Philip Esformes, a Florida man convicted of a massive healthcare fraud scheme whose sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump, will not face any fresh jail time in a retrial attempt by the Justice Department.
Esformes was sentenced Thursday to time served, under a plea deal with prosecutors. Five other counts on which the DOJ wanted to retry him were dropped as part of the deal. Esformes will also be required to pay the outstanding forfeiture judgment of about $24 million.
Esformes was convicted in 2019 for his role in a billion-dollar Medicare fraud scheme and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Trump commuted his sentence in 2020 but didn’t give him a full pardon. In 2022, the DOJ attempted to retry him on counts the original jury couldn’t agree on.
The deal brings the politically charged case to an end. After Trump left office,the Justice Department moved to retry Esformes on six charges on which the original jury could not reach a decision. The retrial attempt raised questions about the power of a presidential commutation.
The facts of the Esformes case were unique, attorneys said. His supporters raised questions of propriety and political interference during the retrial attempt. The case threw a fresh spotlight on the commutation power of the president.
According to the Justice Department, Esformes received $37 million from the fraud scheme and used the money to buy expensive cars and a watch that cost $360,000.
The case will encourage lawyers for clients seeking clemency and those working for the president to be careful when asking for relief, said Dan Kobil, a professor at the Capital Law School in Ohio who specializes in constitutional law. He called it an “unusual case that is unlikely to occur.”
The case was more an example of President Trump pushing the boundaries of clemency power to help someone wealthy, Kobil added.
“The Justice Department felt justified in pushing the norms beyond what they would normally do in order to correct that,” he said.
The case is US v. Esformes, S.D. Fla., No. 1:16-cr-20549, plea agreement 2/22/24.
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