A pharmacist accused of bilking the government of millions in Medicaid dollars through his San Antonio business was given three concurrent 20-year sentences Friday and ordered to pay $2.2 million in restitution.
In a rambling, sometimes incoherent speech to visiting state District Judge Pat Priest before his sentence was announced, Marcelleus Anunobi apologized for his actions and said he had learned his lesson.
“I’ve disgraced myself, I’ve disgraced my family and I’ve disgraced my friends,” he said. “This will be my first mistake and my last mistake.”
Defense attorneys Alex Scharff and Alan Brown asked for probation, noting that it is the only way Anunobi would be able to pay the money back. Prosecutors requested a sentence of 40 to 50 years in prison.
Anunobi could have faced up to life in prison for the first-degree felony Medicaid fraud, theft and money laundering convictions that a jury handed him in July.
In a span of nearly a year from 2007 to 2008, Anunobi stole what amounted to more than $6,000 per day from the Texas Medicaid program, Priest pointed out. Had it not been for investigators stepping in, he would have stolen nearly $10,000 per day, Priest said.
Priest called him “a horrible thief” at one point during the hearing when defense attorneys submitted letters from family members and friends attesting to Anunobi’s good character. “Did he or they bring $2 million to court today? That would be the best evidence of good character that I could see.”
In July, prosecutors Charles Rich and Carolyn Denero described for jurors a scheme in which they said Anunobi would obtain Medicaid numbers for children — including a group of Somali refugees — and continually bill the government for massive amounts of medications that patients neither asked for nor received.
His business, Advanced Doctor’s Prescribed Pharmacy on Medical Drive, appeared to have very little legitimate traffic, prosecutors said.
“When these types of services run out of money, everybody suffers,” Rich argued to the judge Friday. “You can see the greed that quickly took over. This isn’t somebody who’s just taken a dollar here or there.”
Defense attorneys pointed out that Anunobi, an immigrant from Nigeria, already has been punished by having his reputation destroyed. Had it been Walgreens or a large pharmacy in his place, there would only be a question of a fine, not prison time, they suggested.
“My country let him move here and become a citizen,” the judge later responded. “I can’t tell you how I’m offended by him telling me how badly he’s been treated. Poor him, he had to try to steal nearly $10,000 per day.”
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