Public defender appointed for indicted pharma rep who had millions seized in fraud case

Oct. 27—A judge Thursday appointed a public defender to represent Michael W. Luehrsen, a former pharmaceutical rep who said he has been unable to afford a lawyer for his upcoming retrial over a health care fraud charge and other counts.

In 2020, a magistrate judge issued criminal and civil seizure warrants for Luehrsen's financial accounts and waterfront condos in Miami and Buffalo that prosecutors called the proceeds of unlawful activity. Luehrsen said the government seized between $4 million and $5 million worth of assets. He has asked the court to return a portion of his assets back so he can hire new defense counsel. Prosecutors oppose his request.

Federal prosecutors allege Luehrsen generated more than $10 million in wrongful insurance reimbursements through his company, MedHype, by orchestrating a pyramid operation to get prescriptions for non-narcotic, custom-made creams for scars, wounds and pain that included highly priced ingredients without doctors even seeing the patients.

After jurors acquitted the former Clarence resident of eight money laundering charges and two evidence tampering charges in March, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Vilardo declared a mistrial when they could not reach a verdict on the health care fraud charge and remaining money laundering charges.

Vilardo allowed the three lawyers who represented Luehrsen in the first trial to withdraw from the case. Vilardo said it would be unfair to make them continue if Luehrsen can't continue to pay them.

So the judge appointed a public defender to represent Luehrsen in his bid to get back the seized assets and for the rest of the case if needed. Vilardo has previously said he wanted to see Luehrsen's tax returns, statement of net worth and how he his paying his living expenses before scheduling a hearing on whether to returned the seized assets.

Luehrsen did not object to the public defender representing him.

"I would prefer to have my funds released so I can hire an attorney of my choice," Luehrsen said during Thursday's status conference.

Luehrsen paid a $680,000 legal bill for his trial earlier this year by selling his ownership interest in a Chippewa Street nightclub and borrowing $400,000 from his parents, according to a legal filing.

"If funds are released, you can use those funds to hire a lawyer," Vilardo told him Thursday.

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