Spring pharmacist convicted in $20M healthcare kickback scheme

HOUSTON - A Spring pharmacist faces time in federal prison after being found guilty by a federal jury of conspiring to pay millions of dollars in illegal healthcare kickbacks.

Tronown Thomas, 54, owned and operated Rayford ACP Pharmacy. He was convicted of conspiracy to pay health care kickbacks after a five-day trial.

$20 million kickback scheme 

The backstory:

During the trial, it was argued Thomas paid more than $2 million in kickbacks to the owner of a Houston clinic. In exchange, the clinic referred patients who were covered under the Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (DOL-OWCP) and prescribed expensive compounded medications.

Thomas would bill the DOL-OWCP for those prescriptions. Between November 2015 and September 2017, Thomas and Rayford ACP Pharmacy got more than $20 million in reimbursements from the federal program.

The other side:

During the trial, the defense argued that Thomas was not paying kickbacks, but rather paying for legitimate marketing services. The jury rejected those claims and returned a guilty verdict.

What's next:

Sentencing is set for Nov. 12 and Thomas faces up to five years in prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine.