FILE – In this Aug. 7, 2015 file photo, Philip Esformes arrives at the 15th Annual Harold and Carole Pump Foundation Gala held at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, in Los Angeles.
Rob Latour | Invision | AP
The Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal from Florida nursing home owner Philip Esformes, whose 20-year prison sentence for a $1.3 billion Medicare fraud scheme was commuted by then-President Donald Trump in late 2020.
The high court’s action earlier this week sets the stage for Esformes — whom an FBI agent once said was “a man driven by almost unbounded greed”— to be re-tried in Miami federal court on six health-care criminal charges that jurors at his first trial deadlocked on.
If he is convicted, the Supreme Court is likely to be asked to rule whether the case should be tossed out because of Trump’s clemency and another issue.
The Department of Justice’s insistence on retrying Esformes on those deadlocked charges after his criminal sentence was commuted is highly unusual — and possibly unique — in American legal history, and has raised claims that the DOJ is motivated by animus against Trump.
A group of Republican former attorneys general, and an ex-FBI director have supported Esformes’ efforts to have the case dropped.
A lawyer for Esformes had no immediate comment on the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear his appeal. The DOJ and the prosecutor overseeing Esformes’ case did not immediately return a request for comment.
Whether Esformes will be retried remains to be seen.
In a joint court filing Thursday, prosecutors and Esformes’ attorneys asked a judge to postpone a scheduled teleconference in the case from next Monday to late January.
The filing said, “The parties have initiated dialogue concerning issues inherent in this matter, and wish to have the opportunity to continue such dialogue.”
“In light of the upcoming holidays, and complexity of certain issues under discussion, the parties respectfully request that the Court continue the status conference…
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