Former pharmacist among four South Texas men sentenced for multi-million dollar compound drug fraud scheme
Edinburg, Texas – Four men from South Texas have been sentenced to federal prison for their involvement in a conspiracy that funneled illegal kickbacks to secure prescription referrals and defraud federal healthcare programs. The announcement came from U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei, who confirmed that the defendants had all previously pleaded guilty to charges related to the scheme.
John Ageudo Rodriguez, 55, Mohammad Imtiaz Chowdhury, 44, and Hector de la Cruz Jr., 54, all of Edinburg, along with Alex Flores Jr., 55, of McAllen, were sentenced this week by U.S. District Judge Randy Crane.
Rodriguez, a former licensed pharmacist and owner of Pharr Family Pharmacy, received the longest sentence—60 months in federal prison. De la Cruz and Flores were each sentenced to 46 months, while Chowdhury received a 30-month sentence. All four will also serve three years of supervised release after completing their prison terms.
The conspiracy centered around Rodriguez’s pharmacy, which billed federal health programs such as the Department of Labor, TRICARE, and Medicare for millions of dollars in claims from 2014 to 2016. In total, Pharr Family Pharmacy submitted more than $110 million in claims, primarily for compound drugs, while Rodriguez paid kickbacks to medical providers in exchange for sending prescriptions his way.
“Illegal kickbacks are the engine that drives health care fraud,” said U.S. Attorney Ganjei. “Our office will aggressively pursue fraud, waste, and abuse that cost taxpayers millions, if not billions, every year.”
The four defendants were allowed to remain on bond and must voluntarily report to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility, which will be designated at a later date.
The case was investigated by a joint team from several federal and state agencies, including the U.S. Postal Service-OIG, Department of Labor-OIG, FBI, Department of Defense-DCIS, Department of Veteran Affairs-OIG, Health and Human Services-OIG, and Texas Health and Human Services-OIG. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Swartz led the prosecution.
