Trump commutes 20-year sentence of former Chicago-area nursing home mogul convicted in massive Medicaid fraud
In sentencing Esformes to 20 years in prison last year, a federal judge in
Now, Esformes, 52, is a free man, released from a
Esformes was arrested in 2016 at his
In announcing the president’s decision, the
A statement by press secretary
His attorney,
At one point, the flashy, Ferrari-driving Esformes owned millions of dollars in real estate, crisscrossing the country on private jets to spend time at his luxury condominium on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile and mansions in
But allegations of fraud and neglect piled up in
The Tribune also found that families had filed 20 wrongful death lawsuits over a four-year period against seven of Esformes’ facilities in
His indictment alleged Esformes and a handful of
He housed elderly patients alongside younger adults who suffered from mental illness and drug addiction — sometimes with fatal results, prosecutors alleged. In Esformes’
As part of the kickbacks exchanged between Esformes and corrupt medical professionals, “high-end escorts” were flown to
Esformes, meanwhile, drove a
That coach,
A jury convicted Esformes of paying bribes, money laundering, and other crimes, but was unable to reach a verdict on the main count of conspiring to defraud the Medicare program for the elderly and indigent. His appeal is pending before the
At his sentencing hearing in
“The
Prosecutors had requested 30 years behind bars. But U.S. District Judge
Attorneys for Esformes had described him as a selfless philanthropist who had donated more than
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