Physicians Sentenced to Prison for Accepting Bribes for Test Referrals

More prison terms have been handed out to physicians who have pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services, LLC (BLS) of Parsippany, NJ. According to separate press releases, three New Jersey physicians are the most recent individuals to admit involvement in a laboratory pay for referral case that began in April 2013 with the arrest of BLS president David Nicoll and several others. Wayne Lajewski of Madison, NJ, and Glenn Leslie of Ramsey, NJ, were sentenced to 14 months and 24 months respectively according to a March 31 Department of Justice (DOJ) press release. Lajewski admitted receiving $2,000 a month for over two years while Leslie admitted to receiving $5,000 a month. In addition to jail time, the federal judge imposed one year supervised release and fined each $10,000. Lajewski also forfeited $48,000 and Leslie $350,000. In a separate DOJ press release on April 2, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced the sentencing of Dr. Angelo Calabrese of Pine Brook, NJ, to three years and one month in prison, one year supervised release, a $5,000 fine and forfeiture of $334,000. Calabrese admitted accepting $130,000 in bribes through consulting and rental agreements. And additional sentencings relating to this matter may be forthcoming. A separate April 2 press release from U.S. Attorney Fishman announced that Dr. Brett Halper of Glen Head, New York admitted to taking bribes from BLS during the period of January 2011 through April 2013, allegedly often receiving over $5,000 a month. In all, 38 individuals, including 26 doctors, have pleaded guilty since the initial 2013 arrests in the matter. A noteworthy aspect of this continuing case is that the government is taking action against physicians implicated in the arrangement and not just the laboratory.