Two New Jersey doctors were each sentenced today to prison for accepting bribes in exchange for test referrals as part of a long-running scheme operated by Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services LLC (BLS), of Parsippany, its president and numerous associates, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Wayne Lajewski, 51, of Madison, and Glenn Leslie, 60, of Ramsey, were sentenced to 14 months and 24 months in prison, respectively.
Lajewski and Leslie previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler to separate informations charging them each with one count of accepting bribes. Judge Chesler imposed the sentences today in Newark federal court.
Including Lajewski and Leslie, 37 people – 24 of them physicians – have pleaded guilty in connection with the bribery scheme, which its organizers have admitted involved millions of dollars in bribes and resulted in more than $100 million in payments to BLS from Medicare and various private insurance companies.
The investigation has to date recovered more than $10.5 million through forfeiture.
Lajewski admitted he accepted cash bribes of $2,000 per month over two years in return for referring patient blood specimens to BLS, for which BLS received more than $850,000. Leslie admitted accepting $5,000 per month in return for referring patient blood specimens to BLS, for which BLS received $380,000.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Chesler sentenced both Lajewski and Leslie to one year of supervised release and fined them $10,000 each. As part of their guilty pleas, Lajewski must forfeit $48,000 and Leslie must forfeit $350,000.