Albert Davis, the leader in a fraud scheme that established a fake company impersonating Cerner, has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison, according to a Kansas City Star report. Mr. Davis was also ordered to pay part of the restitution costs.
In October 2016, Mr. Davis pled guilty to his involvement in the scheme. His co-conspirators include Christina Bryant, Richard Bryant, David Hernon and David Tayce. The individuals created a fake company, calling it Cerner LLC. They opened a bank account, bought an internet domain as well as produced fake documents, agreements and invoices for Cerner LLC. Additionally, they created fictitious employees, even using names of real Cerner employees.
Before being discovered, the conspirators managed to sell an MRI to a Texas hospital, creating fake invoices and received more than $1 million from the hospital. When the hospital contacted Cerner for assistance with system installation, they found out that the real Cerner had not been involved at all.
Mr. Davis' lawyers argued that his "his fierce sense of purpose and drive caused him to fly far off the track and into the realm of fraudulent criminal conduct," according to the report. They even pointed to the fact that Mr. Davis is a West Point Military Academy graduate as a testament to his character. They asked for a lesser sentence of eight years.
Prosecuting attorneys, however, countered that Mr. Davis had leveraged his West Point degree to gain people's trust.
"Like his West Point degree, this defendant knew that Cerner Corporation's reputation in the medical community would open doors otherwise unavailable to him," prosecutors noted in a written memorandum, according to the report.