A federal jury in Boston on Wednesday found two former senior officers at a Johnson & Johnson division guilty of illegally marketing a medical device, but acquitted them of more serious charges including fraud, according to prosecutors and defense lawyers.

After a six-week trial, the jury convicted William Facteau, 47, of Atherton, Cal., and Patrick Fabian, 49, of Lake Elmo, Minn., of 10 misdemeanor counts of introducing adulterated and misbranded medical devices into interstate commerce. The jury acquitted them of 14 felony counts of conspiracy, wire fraud and felony adulteration and misbranding charges.

Defense attorneys for both men said in a joint statement they planned to file appeals to overturn the misdemeanor convictions. "After five years of investigation and a six week trial, the jury flatly rejected the government's core fraud and conspiracy theories," said Frank Libby, lead attorney for Mr. Fabian.

The trial was part of what the federal government says is a new push to hold more individuals accountable for alleged corporate wrongdoing.

In June, following a separate trial in Boston, a federal jury acquitted a former executive with Allergan PLC's Warner Chilcott unit of conspiring to pay kickbacks to doctors to prod them to prescribe the company's drugs.

Mr. Facteau was the chief executive and Mr. Fabian was vice president of sales at medical-device maker Acclarent, a unit of Johnson & Johnson. In April 2015, a federal grand jury indicted them on criminal charges including conspiring to market a sinus-opening device for a use not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and conspiring to commit securities fraud by not disclosing the alleged conduct to Johnson & Johnson when it acquired Acclarent in 2010 for $785 million.

Messrs. Facteau and Fabian had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The maximum sentence for the misdemeanor charge for which they were found guilty is one year in prison per count, though actual sentences are typically less than the maximum, the U.S. attorney's office said.

Write to Peter Loftus at peter.loftus@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 20, 2016 18:05 ET (22:05 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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