US v. Scott C. Redman, 7th Cir., filed 4/17/18: Court affirms sentence for fake-doctor who used sophisticated means, recklessly endangered patients in bold, bold fraudulent scheme.

This is, in my opinion, one of the bolder, fraudulent schemes one could undertake, which may explain why it didn’t last very long (just a couple of months!). Mr. Redman dropped out of high school, but that didn’t stop him from applying for, and then getting hired, as a psychiatrist at a Chicago medical clinic using the name and license number of a real shrink, Dr. Julian Lopez Garcia.  Redman “prescribed” medications to his patients, who had mental illnesses! This didn’t go well. He messed up prescriptions, and “misdiagnosed” patients. The person who hired him testified at trial that he thought he did a “decent” job. Redman was found guilty of wire fraud, aggravated identify theft, furnishing false and fraudulent material information in documents required under the federal drug laws, and distributing controlled substances. After he was convicted at trial, he received a 157-month sentence.

On appeal, Redman argued that he should not have been subjected to a 2-level enhancement based on “sophisticated means” (U.S.S.G. §2B1.1(b)(10)(C). This, he argued, was just a garden-variety fraud crime. And besides, he obtained his fraudulent medical documents from an unsophisticated website.  The Court was not convinced, upholding the district court’s assessment based on the “ample evidence showing that the defendant caused the creation of a substantial amount of paperwork, including fake diplomas, fake resumes, and fake unauthorized licenses and made government filings in order to further and conceal his elaborate scheme.”

The Court also upheld a 2-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. §2B1.1(b)(15)(A) for “the conscious or reckless risk of death or serious bodily injury.” The Court roundly rejected Redman’s argument that, since doctors did not have licensing requirements 150 years ago, he should not be held accountable for his actions, which included prescribing drugs, because he was still capable of acting as a psychiatrist!  This Court, it appears, frowns upon prescribing highly potent medications to mentally ill patients without the authority to do so.  In a person swipe at Redman, the Court characterized him as a “high-school dropout fraudster.”

So, in this bold, bold, BOLD fraud case, Redman’s sentence remains intact.