Two former laboratory sales executives have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Abe McGlothin, Jr.
Stephen Kash, 51, of Winnie, received an 18-month prison sentence and was ordered to forfeit $779,773.70 in criminal proceeds. Courtney Love, 46, of Dallas, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in federal prison and must forfeit $217,268.75 in criminal proceeds. U.S. District Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle imposed the sentences on April 24, 2025.
Kash and Love were among eight individuals indicted on September 22, 2022, for conspiring to offer and pay illegal remunerations in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute. This statute prohibits offering, paying, soliciting, or receiving compensation to induce referrals for services covered by federal healthcare programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
The conspiracy involved incentivizing physicians to refer patients to rural hospitals (Little River Healthcare in Rockdale and Stamford Memorial Hospital in Stamford) and an affiliated lab, True Health Diagnostics (THD) in Frisco, in exchange for kickbacks disguised as investment returns. Marketers were also incentivized to arrange or recommend services from these entities.
The scheme operated as follows: THD processed advanced cardiovascular lipid tests, and the rural hospitals billed insurers at a much higher rate than THD could as a lab. The hospitals then paid a portion of their lab revenues to marketers, who, through management services organizations (MSOs), funneled kickbacks to referring physicians under the guise of investment opportunities. THD executives and sales personnel, including Kash and Love, allegedly leveraged these MSO kickbacks to secure and increase referrals, boosting their own revenues, bonuses, and commissions.
In a separate indictment on July 14, 2022, Kash was also charged with conspiring to commit money laundering related to the proceeds of the kickback scheme.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, and the U.S. Department of Defense – Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) investigated the case, with assistance from the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Commerce - Export Enforcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adrian Garcia, Nathaniel C. Kummerfeld, Lucas Machicek, and Robert Austin Wells prosecuted the case.
