Details behind $197M fraud scheme that landed former NFL player a 16-year prison sentence

Former NFL player and Mississippi business executive Joel French was sentenced to more than 16 years in federal prison for orchestrating a massive health care fraud scheme that targeted elderly Americans and veterans’ families while defrauding the US government out of nearly $200 million, the Justice Department announced on Friday. 

French, 47, received a 196-month prison sentence after prosecutors said he used overseas telemarketers, sham telemedicine companies and straw-owned medical supply businesses to push medically unnecessary equipment onto vulnerable patients.

In addition to his sentence, French was ordered to pay more than $110.7 million in restitution and forfeit approximately $17 million seized from bank accounts and other assets tied to the scheme.

Federal prosecutors said French owned a marketing company and secretly controlled eight durable medical equipment companies that billed Medicare and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, the overseas call centers pressured seniors into providing personal and insurance information and agreeing to receive equipment they often did not want or need. In some cases, telemarketers allegedly altered recordings to make it appear patients were approved for equipment.

Prosecutors said French then paid kickbacks to telemedicine companies in exchange for doctors’ orders signed by physicians and nurse practitioners who never examined any patients.

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Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald said the scheme was “fueled by lies, bribes, and overseas telemarketers” and preyed on seniors and disabled veterans.

French was a two-time All-American tight end at Ole Miss in the late 90s. He went undrafted prior to playing three NFL seasons split between the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers from 1999-2002. French finished his college career with 84 receptions, 814 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns.

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