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 Kapoor, 76, is now the highest-ranking pharmaceutical executive to
be sentenced in a case linked to the opioid crisis. His was the
harshest sentence in a case in which several former Insys executives
will go to prison.
Forfeiture and restitution in Kapoor's case still needs to be
determined. Government prosecutors are asking for about $113 million
in forfeiture from a man who grew up poor in India, but became a
billionaire before founding Insys.
During a hearing that lasted nearly two hours, U.S. prosecutors
asked U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs to sentence
Kapoor to 15 years in prison. Some victims also asked her to give
Kapoor a maximum penalty.
Victims told the judge they were prescribed a highly addictive
opiate that they did not need. They described losing their teeth and
being unable to put two thoughts together as they lived in a haze of
addiction. One victim told the judge Kapoor should be treated as a
drug trafficker.
Burroughs said her lesser sentence took into account his central
role in the crime, his many good works as a philanthropist and his
age.
Nevertheless, Kapoor is due to serve significantly more prison time
than other former senior Insys executives convicted in the bribery
and fraud scheme.
On Wednesday, former Insys Chief Executive Michael Babich, 43, was
sentenced to 30 months in prison. Babich last year pleaded guilty to
conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud and agreed to
cooperate with the government.
Over several days of testimony, Babich had described the inner
workings of the conspiracy in detail. The trial resulted in the
conviction of Kapoor, as well as the company's vice president of
managed markets, Michael Gurry, national director of sales Richard
Simon, and two Insys regional sales directors, Joseph Rowan and
Sunrise Lee.
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Subsys, the company's fentanyl-based medication, was approved to
treat intense pain in cancer patients.
But Babich and others would identify high prescribers of opioid
treatments and pay bribes or kickbacks to get them to broaden Subsys
uses, increasing the number of new prescriptions, as well as dosage
prescribed and units sold.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathaniel Yeager described Kapoor as the
linchpin of the scheme.
"It was a top-down conspiracy run by John Kapoor," Yeager told the
judge.
Burroughs said she was not convinced Kapoor was the linchpin of the
operation, but acknowledged he was a central player.
Kapoor, who served as the Chandler, Arizona-based drugmaker's
chairman and later chief executive after Babich stepped down,
apologized to the victims in the courtroom.
"I am heartbroken by the words of the patients," Kapoor said. "I
sincerely apologize to them."
From 1999 to 2017, some 400,000 people died from overdoses involving
an opioid, including prescription and illicit drugs, according to
U.S. health officials.
(Reporting By Tim McLaughlin; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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