A federal judge has overturned a portion of the convictions against former Insys Therapeutics executives, saying prosecutors failed to prove they violated the Controlled Substances Act, according to NPR.
In May, Insys founder John Kapoor and four former executives were convicted of a racketeering conspiracy that boosted sales of the company's liquid fentanyl painkiller, called Subsys.
The government failed to prove the defendants intended to commit bribery and extortion, so convictions of honest services fraud and of violating the Controlled Substances Act will be overturned, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs ruled Nov. 26 in Boston.
The convictions against Mr. Kapoor and the executives — Michael Gurry, Richard Simon, Sunrise Lee and Joseph Rowan — for wire and mail fraud will stand, according to NPR.
The judge said the government could have "easily" proved bribery, but chose not to charge for bribery or kickbacks, according to NPR.
She noted in her ruling that the decision was not intended to "condone or minimize" what Mr. Kapoor or the executives did when marketing Subsys.
The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced the second week of January 2020, according to NPR.
Read the full article here.
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