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The owner of a portable X-ray business has lost his appeal after arguing that his 2022 conviction should be overturned over the status of a jury’s COVID-19 vaccination.
A federal jury in April 2022 convicted Thomas G. O’Rear of North Canton, Ohio, of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid out of approximately $2 million. His company, Portable Radiology Services, charged nursing home residents for X-ray services it did not provide and made false statements to cover up the fraud, authorities said at the time.
In October 2022, a judge sentenced Olea to 15 years in prison and ordered him to pay $1,989,490 in restitution to Medicare, Medicaid, and two managed care organizations. He later appealed, arguing that the jury was biased because it did not include members like him who had not been vaccinated against the coronavirus.
But an appeals court judge dismissed the claim on January 8, arguing that Mr. O’Rear’s right to an impartial jury had not been violated.
“Unvaccinated people, unlike members of a certain race or gender, raise Sixth Amendment concerns of excluding ‘an impartial portion of the community’ from potential jurors.” “They do not constitute a ‘distinct group’ of the type that may occur,” the court order states. .
Jurors participating in the five-day trial will be required to be vaccinated, an order put in place to prevent disruption in the midst of the pandemic. O’Rear said there are significant demographic differences between vaccinated and non-vaccinated people, with the latter including more African Americans, people living in rural areas, young people, and individuals who are skeptical of government. He cited statistics showing that The court dismissed these claims, citing previous case law.
“Many defendants similarly note that the use of voter lists to identify potential jurors has a disparate impact because minority members traditionally register to vote less frequently than other members.” “He claimed that he was causing harm,” the order states. “However, we and other courts have consistently rejected this argument as long as the “right to register” to vote is legally and virtually “open” to all. ”
O’Rear also disputed the court’s assertion that his crimes involved “vulnerable victims” and that his crimes only affected Medicare and Medicaid, not nursing home residents. insisted. But the court also rejected those claims, noting that the company misused the identities of elderly and dependent long-term care residents to carry out its scheme.
News of the decision was first reported by Bloomberg Law. More information can be found here (subscription required).
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