Jury Acquits Former Johnson & Johnson Unit Executives of Felony Fraud
July 20 2016 - 06:20PM
Dow Jones News
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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