A Texas man has been sentenced to 150 months in prison for organizing and leading a $61.5 million healthcare fraud scheme involving thousands of Medicare beneficiaries, according to a Justice Department news release dated March 27.
Robert Smith III, of Archer City, owned and controlled seven durable medical equipment supply firms through which he filed millions of dollars in fraudulent Medicare claims for medically unnecessary orthotic braces and foot baths. Mr. Smith also controlled a marketing company that ran misleading telemarketing campaigns, partnering with an offshore call center in the Philippines to sell medically inappropriate products to Medicare beneficiaries across the country.
Mr. Smith got physician orders by paying kickbacks to telemedicine businesses, and he then utilized fake physician signatures on false prescriptions. After pleading guilty in March 2025, Mr. Smith fled and failed to appear for sentence, being at large for more than a month until being arrested by the United States Marshals Service.
Mr. Smith was ordered to pay $30.1 million in reparations and to lose $9.2 million in real estate in Texas.
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