In United States v. Chalker, No. 18-15102 (July 13,
2020) (Marcus, Wilson, Thapar), the Court affirmed the defendant
pharmacist’s healthcare fraud convictions and sentence.
First, the Court found that the evidence was sufficient to
support convictions for conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and substantive
healthcare fraud.
Second, the Court found that the indictment tracked the
language of the statute and otherwise sufficiently informed the defendant of
the charges.
Third, the Court found no error in permitting an FBI
forensic accountant to testify as a lay witness because he never gave expert
testimony, but rather merely summarized bank/wage records. The Court also found no error in admitting
expert testimony where the government disclosed the substance of the testimony
before trial, but swapped out a new expert for the original expert,
as there was no showing of prejudice.
Fourth, the Court found no abuse of discretion in denying
the defendant’s motion to continue the trial based on defense counsel’s time to
prepare and the expert swap. The Court
concluded that there was not enough to show prejudice.
Fifth, the Court found no clear error at sentencing in the
loss calculation. The defendant arguably
waived that issue at sentencing. And, in
any event, the trial testimony supported the finding.
