More former NFL players pleading guilty in health fraud case in Kentucky
Convictions are adding up in a case involving former National Football League players charged with scamming a health program, with a second guilty plea in Lexington last week and another scheduled Monday.
Donald “Reche” Caldwell, 40, a former receiver for the San Diego Chargers and the New England Patriots, pleaded guilty in federal court in Lexington on Jan. 23 to a charge of conspiracy to commit health fraud.
Etric Pruitt, 38, a back who played in a few games with the Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks, is scheduled to plead guilty Monday.
Pruitt’s attorney, C. William Swinford Jr., said in a motion that Pruitt will plead guilty to conspiracy to commit health fraud.
Joe Horn, 47, a one-time standout receiver for the New Orleans Saints, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in December.
The three were charged in an investigation that has swept up a dozen former NFL players who allegedly submitted fraudulent insurance claims.
The fraud involved the Gene Upshaw NFL Player Health Reimbursement Account Plan, which allows former players to be reimbursed for out-of-pocket medical expenses not covered by insurance, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Caldwell and other former players allegedly filed claims to be paid for high-dollar medical equipment, such as hyperbaric oxygen chambers and cryotherapy machines, that they didn’t actually buy or receive.
Some of the former players charged in the case allegedly drew up fake prescriptions and invoices to support the claims, and some recruited others into the scheme in return for kickbacks, the indictment charged.
Federal prosecutors said the players filed more than $3.9 million worth of false claims in 18 months.
The other players charged in the case are Robert McCune, John Eubanks, Tamarick Vanover, Carlos Rogers, Clinton Portis, Ceandris Brown, James Butler, Fredrick Bennett, and Correll Buckhalter.
They have pleaded not guilty.
No one charged in the case lives in Kentucky, but the case is being handled in federal court here because they submitted the alleged fraudulent claims through a CIGNA insurance data center in Lexington, according to a court document.
“This investigation serves as an illustration of the rampant and deliberate scams against health care plans occurring daily throughout the country,” George L. Piro, head of the Miami FBI office, said when federal authorities announced the case.
In his plea agreement, Caldwell said he agreed with McCune, Portis, Vanover and others to file false claims.
The insurance plan paid two fake claims to Caldwell totaling $97,984, including one for an electromagnetic therapy machine designed to be used on horses, according to his plea agreement.
In addition, Caldwell helped other former players file fake claims totaling $159,501 and they paid him for facilitating the claims, his plea agreement said.
Caldwell signed the plea deal Nov. 26, before prosecutors announced the indictments in the case, but the hearing to take his plea wasn’t held until last week.
He was allowed to remain free pending sentencing.
The charge against Caldwell carries a top sentence of 10 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Karen K. Caldwell scheduled him to be sentenced in June.
