Vacations, golf club membership, furnishings used in bribery scheme at Lexington hospital, grand jury says

A contractor paid bribes and kickbacks to St. Joseph Hospital’s executive director of facilities, who was responsible for assigning general contracting work, a federal indictment said.

As part of the scheme, contractor Rocky Williams of Jessamine County bought a motorcycle, an all-terrain vehicle, vacations, golf club memberships and furniture for James Newton of Lexington, according to court records. Neither man works at or for St. Joseph now.

Williams and Newton were each indicted on a federal charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, according to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Lexington.

Williams performed general contracting work for the hospital, and Newton was an employee of Catholic Health Initiatives and executive director of facilities for the hospital, the indictment said.

From April 2009 through at least October 2012, Williams and Newton participated in a conspiracy to enrich themselves by arranging for Williams to receive general contracting work at the hospital in exchange for Newton “receiving a share of the profits through unauthorized bribes and kickbacks that were not disclosed” to the hospital or to Catholic Health Initiatives, the indictment said.

Williams submitted invoices to the hospital for general contracting work that were passed on to Catholic Health Initiatives (the parent company of KentuckyOne Health) in Colorado for payment processing, the indictment said.

As part of the conspiracy, Newton and his family made personal purchases with credit cards, and Williams made the payments on those transactions. Information about those transactions was transmitted to relevant financial institutions, the indictment said.

Williams also gave monetary payments to Newton and his family, and bought for Newton “a motorcycle, an all-terrain vehicle, fuel, rent, vacations, golf club memberships, a pool table, and furniture and home furnishings.”

The government seeks forfeiture of proceeds traceable to the alleged crime, according to the indictment, which doesn’t provide dollar values for the property or the other benefits.

The construction projects on which Williams was a contractor could not be immediately determined. A KentuckyOne spokesman said that information would have to come from investigators.

Conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Williams and Newton are scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 9 before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Robert E. Wier.

This story was originally published July 11, 2017 at 10:52 AM with the headline "Vacations, golf club membership, furnishings used in bribery scheme at Lexington hospital, grand jury says."