McAllen man pleads guilty to pharmacy kickback scheme

McALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A McAllen man pleaded guilty to paying kickbacks in exchange for prescription referrals, the United States Attorney's Office announced.

According to a news release from the United States Attorney's Office, John Ageudo Rodriguez, 55, a licensed pharmacist, owned and operated the Pharr Family Pharmacy.

Rodriguez admitted to paying more than $24 million in kickbacks to various marketers.

The release stated, that the marketers had relationships with the physicians and clinics, which could cause prescriptions for expensive compound drugs to be referred to Rodriguez's pharmacy.

From 2014 to 2016, Rodriguez's pharmacy billed more than $110 million to various federal healthcare benefit programs for compound drugs.

His guilty plea follows the guilty pleas of numerous other marketers involved in the prescription drug kickback scheme, the release added.

Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane accepted the plea and set sentencing for March 25.

Rodriguez faces up to five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.