A Texas man has been sentenced to 150 months in prison for organizing and leading a $61.5 million healthcare fraud conspiracy involving thousands of Medicare beneficiaries, the Justice Department said in a March 27 news release.
Robert Smith III, of Archer City, owned and operated seven durable medical equipment supply companies through which he submitted millions of dollars in false claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary orthotic braces and foot baths. Mr. Smith also owned a marketing company that conducted deceptive telemarketing campaigns, working with an offshore call center in the Philippines to peddle medically unnecessary products to Medicare beneficiaries nationwide.
Mr. Smith obtained physicians’ orders by paying kickbacks to telemedicine companies and later used forged physician signatures on fraudulent orders. After pleading guilty in March 2025, Mr. Smith absconded and failed to appear for sentencing, remaining at large for more than a month before being apprehended by the U.S. Marshals Service.
Mr. Smith was ordered to pay $30.1 million in restitution and forfeit $9.2 million as well as real estate located in Texas.
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