A Missouri surgeon and a Kansas device distributor have been sentenced in a kickback scheme in which spinal implant maker SpineFrontier paid the surgeon through a sham consulting program, according to an Oct. 22 release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
Here are eight things to know:
1. The sentences: Jason Montone, DO, of Lawson, Mo., was sentenced in federal court in Boston to one year of supervised release and must forfeit $379,000, the consulting fees he received. Distributor John Balzer of Lenexa, Kan., was sentenced in August to one year of supervised release and forfeiture of $947,500 in commissions.
2. The pleas: Dr. Montone pleaded guilty in October 2020 to conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute and to obstruction. Mr. Balzer pleaded guilty in September 2020 to conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute and to witness tampering. Both cooperated with the government.
3. The rate: SpineFrontier paid Dr. Montone $500 to $750 an hour under its consulting program. The company tracked his sales volume and set payments regardless of how much consulting he performed, prosecutors said. He spent only a small fraction of his reported consulting time on consulting.
4. The tie to volume: SpineFrontier agreed to pay Dr. Montone 10% of revenue from surgeries he performed using its products, according to the release.
5. The distributor’s cut: Mr. Balzer earned a 25% commission on revenue from Dr. Montone’s use of SpineFrontier products, totaling more than $1.2 million.
6. The executives: CEO Kingsley Chin pleaded guilty to making false statements to CMS and was sentenced in August 2025 to one year of supervised release, including six months of home confinement, and a $9,500 fine. CFO Aditya Humad pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute and was sentenced in August 2026 to four months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release and a $9,500 fine.
7. Six physicians settled: Six other physicians agreed in 2020 to pay to resolve civil False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute allegations tied to the consulting fees:
- John Carlson, MD: $1.75 million
- F. Paul DeGenova, MD: $486,985
- Michael Murray, MD: $330,668
- Joseph Shehadi, MD: $323,419
- Agha Khan, MD: $310,843
- John Atwater, MD: $105,149
8. The pattern: Prosecutors described consulting pay that did not track the work performed and was set by the surgeon’s sales volume. Those two features, pay unrelated to services and pay tied to volume, are the core of the government’s case and apply to any physician-owner with an industry consulting deal.
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