Date: 01-08-2024

Case Style:

United States of America v. Joe David May, a.k.a. Jay May

Case Number:

Judge: United States District Judge Kristine G. Baker

Court: The United States Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas

Plaintiff's Attorney: The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Arkansas

Defendant's Attorney:

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Description:

Little Rock, Arkansas Criminal Defense Lawyer represented Doctor Sentenced to Federal Prison for Accepting Kickbacks, Defrauding TRICARE, and Failed Attempts to Obstruct Investigation

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—An Arkansas doctor at the heart of a $12 million scheme to defraud TRICARE will spend the next 102 months in federal prison. Earlier today, United States District Judge Kristine G. Baker sentenced Joe David May, a.k.a. Jay May, 42, of Alexander, to 102 months’ imprisonment and ordered him to pay more than $4.63 million in restitution to TRICARE, the health insurer for our nation’s military.

A 2020 indictment charged May with twenty-two counts, including conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud, violating the anti-kickback statute, lying to the FBI, falsifying records, and aggravated identity theft. After a six-day trial in June 2022, a jury convicted May on all twenty-two counts.

Proof at trial showed May stood at the center of a bogus prescription-drug assembly line and, later, went to great lengths in a failed bid to cover it up.

As part of the scheme, recruiters found military personnel and veterans with TRICARE and filled out prescriptions for compounded drugs in their names—selecting which drugs to supply (usually the most expensive) and how many refills to authorize. All that was missing were prescriber signatures. So, middlemen routed the pre-filled prescriptions to medical professionals, like May, to be rubber stamped without consulting the ‘patient’ or any regard for whether drugs were needed. TRICARE paid over $12 million for prescriptions generated in this scheme, part of a wave of fraudulent schemes around the country that saw TRICARE spend over $2 billion for compounded prescription drugs in 2015.

In exchange for thousands in cash kickbacks, May rubber stamped 226 prescriptions for which TRICARE paid over $4.63 million. All but one of his prescriptions were for ‘patients’ May did not know, never treated, and knew nothing about.

Following the execution of search warrants at compounding pharmacies around the country, May visited the FBI to answer questions about his prescriptions. May lied by claiming he only signed prescriptions for people he evaluated and denying he received kickbacks. Obstruction continued when May got a subpoena for prescriptions and related ‘patient’ records. May turned over but a fraction of the prescriptions he signed and fabricated medical records to make it seem like the drug recipients were really his patients. Finally, as trial approached, May tried to mischaracterize a $5,000 cash kickback as Oaklawn winnings from the 2015 Arkansas Derby.

All nine of May’s co-conspirators pled guilty to conspiracy and elected to cooperate with federal law enforcement, with several testifying at trial. All but one co-conspirator has been sentenced:

Outcome: 102 months’ imprisonment and ordered him to pay more than $4.63 million in restitution to TRICARE

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