The Commercial Appeal

Barrett given maximum sentence of 10 years

Key player in massive fraud case must also repay $182.5 million

- Lici Beveridge

One of the last men to plead guilty in a massive fraud involving high-priced pain creams and other medication­s was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison – the maximum sentence possible.

Mitchell “Chad” Barrett, 55, formerly of Clinton, pleaded guilty in August to conspiracy to commit money laundering in a $182.5 million health care fraud, from which he personally profited more than $25 million.

Barrett was ordered by U.S. Senior Judge Keith Starrett to repay the fraudulent­ly obtained money, including more than $25 million outlined in a forfeiture order.

“The tentacles of your involvemen­t go far and wide,” Starrett said. “Mr. Barrett, you were at the top of the food chain, not just in Mississipp­i but in Florida and other places.”

The hearing took place at William M. Colmer Federal Courthouse in Hattiesbur­g.

Barrett stood before Starrett looking straight ahead for most of the hearing until his wife Jonnita Barrett testified.

Chad Barrett wiped tears from his eyes as she told the court her husband was a kind and generous man. She asked Starrett for mercy in sentencing her husband.

“We’ve been beaten down, humiliated,” she said. “The only thing we had to cling to is each other.”

Jonnita Barrett was diagnosed with cancer in 2021. She testified that her husband nursed her through surgery and treatment and kept her spirits up when she was ready to give up.

Chad Barrett hugged his wife as she left the witness stand.

The ex-pharmacist struggled to read his statement to the court.

“I have a lot of apologies I need to make, a lot of things I need to say,” he said. “I caused my family more pain than I want to acknowledg­e. I’m ashamed that my actions brought them (to court).”

Chad Barrett also apologized to the court, the prosecutor­s and his victims, saying he was glad no one that he was aware of was physically hurt by the fraud.

Although Starrett gave Chad Barrett the maximum sentence, he allowed him to self-report to prison instead of being taken into custody immediatel­y. He will have 60 days to report once he is assigned to a prison.

“I’m doing this because of your wife’s condition,” Starrett said.

Who else was involved in the scheme?

Barrett, who now lives in Gulf Breeze, Florida, is one of the scheme’s “central architects” who defrauded TRICARE and other health care benefits providers and created more than $1.5 billion in fraud nationwide, along with Wade Walters, Hope Thomley and Tommy Spell, all of whom are serving prison sentences after pleading guilty to their crimes.

According to a 21-count indictment, Barrett and his direct co-conspirato­rs, Tommy Shoemaker and David “Jason” Rutland, conspired to and engaged in a scheme to defraud numerous health care benefit programs, using several pharmacies, including several in the Jackson metro area, between September 2011 and January 2016.

Shoemaker and Rutland are serving their sentences in federal prisons in Louisiana and Illinois.

Around 20 others pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial for the fraud. One was acquitted and one still faces retrial on a charge for which the trial jury could not reach a unanimous verdict.

Dr. Gregory Auzenne of Meridian was indicted on eight charges. He was acquitted of seven charges. He is expected to be retried on the eighth charge later this year.

His secretary Tiffany Clark was acquitted of all five charges for which she was indicted.

What did the fraud entail?

The fraud involved a scheme to maximize profit on the compounded pain creams and other medication­s by creating ones with the highest reimbursem­ent value instead of tailoring them to individual patients. In some cases, the prescribin­g doctor never examined the patient. In most cases, the medication­s were not medically necessary.

The prescripti­ons, some of which contained controlled substances, were photocopie­d or pre-signed on preprinted prescripti­on pads. Many of the prescripti­ons were sent to patients by automatic renewal.

The pain and creams and vitamin and weight-loss pills were billed to TRICARE and other health care benefit providers, which reimbursed participat­ing pharmacies for the medication­s, which cost around $11,000-$14,000 per prescripti­on.

Marketers solicited pharmacist­s and medical profession­als to prescribe the medication­s to patients in exchange for kickbacks and bribes. Some even signed up family members, employees and friends to receive the medication­s even though they had no need for them.

Do you have a story to share? Contact Lici Beveridge at lbeveridge@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @licibev or Facebook at facebook.com/licibeveri­dge.

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