Feds: Convicted Forest Park Docs and Managers Should Be Jailed ASAP Due to Other Pending Criminal Matters

One day after a federal jury in Dallas convicted spine surgeons and others in connection with a $40 million bribery and kickback conspiracy, the government formally requested they be taken into custody because many of them face other criminal matters.The jury found that a defunct, doctor-owned hospital, Forest Park Medical Center, illegally paid for surgeries to boost its profits. Seven out of nine defendants, including four doctors, were convicted for their roles in the scheme. Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Pfeifle wrote Wednesday in her motion for detention that the burden now shifts to the defendants to prove they are not a flight risk or danger to the community. She said they are a flight risk and asked that they be detained immediately or as soon as possible this week. "As this Court knows, many of these defendants have access to significant financial resources, some have ties to and relations in foreign countries, and many have other criminal matters pending," Pfeifle wrote. Her disclosure of other criminal allegations, detailed in a sealed government filing, is the first time that information has been made known publicly.   Continue reading...