The bribes (involving all 39 defendants) are estimated to have brought BLS tens of millions in business.
Dr. Gary Safier is one of over two dozen physicians involved in a bribery schemed involving Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services of Parsippany, New Jersey. A total of 39 people pleaded guilty for their part in a bribery scheme which brought tens of millions of dollars of business to the lab.
What makes Gary Safier’s story different is the reason he gave for taking bribes: gambling addiction. Dr. Safier’s lawyers argued the doctor took $353,000 in bribes in order to send $2 million of his patients’ blood work to the BLS lab. The lawyers argued for leniency for the doctor, saying his addiction had caused immeasurable damage to his family’s finances, reputation, and well-being already.
Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison
U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler heard the arguments, but was unswayed. On Wednesday, Judge Chesler sentenced Gary Safier to 2 years in prison for taking bribes. The judge told the convicted man, “Gambling addiction makes you gamble. It does not make you take bribes.”
Safier claims his gambling addiction caused him to make desperate decisions. The evidence showed that Safier has been dealing with problem gambling for at least 18 years. That same evidence is part of the reason Judge Chesler gave the former physician a two-year sentence.
Previous Problem Gambling Incident
The New Jersey medical association once sanctioned Safier for unethical behavior. The medical association found the physician had prescribed medications to a patient who did not need the medicines. The same patient loaned Safier $550,000.
The Star-Ledger reported that Gary Safier faced criminal charges in the 1998 case. He entered into a pretrial intervention program, paid a fine, did community service, and served a 12-month probation.
Sanctioned by the Board of Medical Examiners
Records from 1998 show that Safier was ordered by the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners to be subject to prescription monitoring, continue with problem gambling counseling, operate a single office, and stop borrowing money from patients.
Though Judge Chesler sentenced Safier to a prison term shorter than the one prosecutors suggestion, Chesler said the 1998 case had an effect on his decision to sentence Safier to prison. The judge said of the 1998 case, “Quite frankly, that should have been a wake up call. It wasn’t.”
Two Years of Supervised Release after Prison
In addition, the judge ordered that Gary Safier be fined $25,000 and undergo two years of supervised release after his prison term ends. It was noted that Safier was not charged with ordering medically unnecessary blood tests, but that the doctor did order such tests when the lab which bribed him asked for it.
Gary Safier’s Cooperation
At the same time, Judge Chesler noted that Gary Safier had cooperated with authorities since he first was charged with crimes in 2013. The judge also made reference to the fact Safier once recorded a conversation with an unidentified representative from another medical lab. The sales representative offered Safier a $24,000 bribe on tape.
The taped conversation helped prosecutors gain a plea bargain conviction of the representative in the Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services case, but prosecutors declined to release the name of that person. Gary Safier’s defense attorney, Raymond M. Brown, also declined to speak about the rep’s conviction.
Convicted Man’s Statement of Regret
For his part, Gary Safier said he deeply regretted the pain his various acts had imposed on his family, friends, and patients of the past 45 days. He told the court, “It’s something that I’ll have to live with for the rest of my life.”
