West Virginia pharmacist Natalie Cochran, PharmD, was sentenced March 18 to 135 months in federal prison for her role in a wire fraud and money laundering scheme that cost victims more than $2 million in losses, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Dr. Cochran, 40, of Daniels, W.Va., pleaded guilty Sept. 21 to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.
In her plea agreement, Dr. Cochran admitted she committed fraud from around June 2017 through at least August 2019 by taking money and property from people, financial institutions and companies.
She said she persuaded several investors to funnel money into her two companies, Technology Management Solutions and Tactical Solutions Group, and roped people into false government contracts by misrepresenting her companies as successful government contractors.
Dr. Cochran agreed to forfeit her interest to the U.S. in the assets she obtained through the fraud scheme, including two pieces of real property, multiple vehicles, jewelry and nearly $45,000 seized from her business’ bank account.
In addition to her prison sentence, Dr. Cochran was also ordered to pay over $2.5 million in restitution to the fraud scheme's victims and serve a three-year supervised release term.
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