Retired Army Master Sgt. Lawrence Peter Fenti, a former chief administrator in the radiology department at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, has been sentenced to four years in federal prison for his role in an $8 million kickback scheme, according to a report from the San Antonio Express-News.
Along with the prison time, Fenti was ordered to pay $402,485. He pleaded guilty back in January along with co-conspirator Heidi Lynn Webster, MD, a radiologist.
Fenti and Webster directed $8.15 million in contracts to companies run by Webster, including MRI Resources Inc. and Pro Veteran Staffing Inc. According to the San Antonio Express-News, the two took advantage of rules giving preference to disadvantaged businesses by using a small company, North Dakota-based Data Dynamics, as the prime contractor. After the contracts were secured, MRI Resources and Pro Veteran Staffing would send overinflated invoices to Data Dynamics, which were then paid by the government.
Evan joined TriMed in 2011, writing primarily for Health Imaging. Prior to diving into medical journalism, Evan worked for the Nine Network of Public Media in St. Louis. He also has worked in public relations and education. Evan studied journalism at the University of Missouri, with an emphasis on broadcast media.