Judge lets Schneider convictions stand

A federal judge Wednesday rejected a defense bid seeking acquittal for Stephen and Linda Schneider.

U.S. District Judge Monti Belot ruled that there was sufficient evidence to support last week's convictions against the Schneiders on conspiracy, unlawful distribution of drugs, health care fraud and money laundering charges. The Schneiders face sentences of up to life in prison.

In their motion for acquittal, the Schneiders argued that they shouldn't have been found guilty of conspiracy to commit health care fraud because there was no evidence of an agreement between them and the government failed to provide sufficient evidence of unlawful conduct. The judge disagreed.

Belot said there was sufficient evidence to show the clinic consistently billed for services not provided and fraudulently charged more for the majority of claims billed.

The defendants' repeated argument that the Controlled Substances Act was never intended to criminalize Stephen Schneider's medical practice also didn't gain much traction.

"The evidence was sufficient for the jury to find that Stephen Schneider, in effect, acted as a prescription drug dealer with a medical degree," Belot wrote in an 11-page opinion.

Belot didn't give much credence to the argument that there was insufficient evidence to show that Linda Schneider aided and abetted her husband. He noted that numerous witnesses testified about her involvement as the clinic manager and the way she handled the staff, noting that she required pain management patients to come to the clinic for refills so the clinic could receive payment from billing the office visits, not for legitimate medical reasons.

The judge said jurors had enough evidence to conclude that she not only knew about the clinic's dispensing practices, but that she organized and managed the clinic to maximize the number of the prescriptions written and was "well aware of the deleterious consequences to patients" resulting from the practices.

This story was originally published July 1, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Judge lets Schneider convictions stand."