BANGOR, Maine — A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted a former pharmacist at the defunct mail-order pharmacy run by the Penobscot Indian Nation on charges of receiving more than $100,000 in kickbacks from six online firms that ordered drugs from PIN Rx during 2006.
Reginald S. Gracie Jr., 40, of Bowdoin was indicted on six counts of conspiracy, 19 counts of corruptly soliciting and receiving kickbacks as an agent of an organization that received federal funds, and two counts of filing false federal income tax returns.
The tribe has not been charged.
“Reggie is disappointed he has been indicted so many years after these events and will vigorously contest the charges,” Gracie’s attorney, Thomas Marjerison of Portland, said Friday in an email.
Gracie is scheduled to be arraigned on Oct. 4 at federal court in Bangor. He is expected to plead not guilty to the charges.
PIN Rx was started in October 2005 with funds from the tribe and assistance from the state as a business endeavor to provide the Penobscots with revenue while meeting the needs of the state’s MaineCare and elderly patients. The company was in operation for just a year.
Gracie was hired as director of operations in the fall of 2005 and became head pharmacist in April 2006, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The next month he allegedly conspired with, solicited and received kickbacks from people associated with six Internet companies that sold prescription drugs.
In total, Gracie received about $120,717 in kickbacks between May and November 2006, the indictment alleged. He also allegedly did not declare that income on his taxes.
Gracie was indicted less than three months before the five-year statute of limitations expired on the conspiracy and kickback charges. The statute of limitations on tax crimes is six years after the tax forms are filed.
His pharmacy license was revoked by the state Board of Pharmacy in May 2007. In addition, Gracie was ordered to pay a $120,000 fine for his role in the scheme.
If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison on the kickback charges, up to five years in prison on the conspiracy charges and up to three years in prison on the tax charges. He also faces a fine of up to $250,000.
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