Hattiesburg Man Sentenced for Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud and Money Laundering in $200 Million Compounding Pharmacy Scheme

Jackson, Miss. –  Jason May, 41, of Hattiesburg, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett to 12 months and one day in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiring to commit health care fraud and money laundering, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst, Special Agent in Charge Michelle Sutphin, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Mississippi, Acting Special Agent in Charge Andrew M. Thornton of IRS Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), Special Agent in Charge Cynthia Bruce of Defense Criminal Investigative Services (DCIS) Southeast Field Office, and Interim Director Steven Maxwell of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics (MBN). 

May was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $182,503,946.75.  

From December 2011 until January 2016, May was the pharmacist-in-charge and co-owner of Advantage Pharmacy, a Hattiesburg-based pharmacy.  Beginning in late 2012, May conspired with others to select formulas for compounded medications, not based on scientific evaluations of efficacy or individualized patient needs, but rather, to maximize reimbursement from TRICARE and other health care benefit programs.  Then he and his co-conspirators mass-produced the compounded medications at Advantage Pharmacy and agreed to waive copayments for the compounded medications to induce TRICARE beneficiaries and others to accept the costly product.   

The FBI, IRS-CI, DCIS and MBN investigated the case with assistance from U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) and Office of Personnel Management OIG.  Trial Attorneys Dustin M. Davis, Sara E. Porter, and Katherine E. Payerle of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, Trial Attorney Amanda Wick of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, and Assistant United States Attorney Kathlyn R. Van Buskirk of the Southern District of Mississippi prosecuted the case.