Ex-NFL Player Convicted In $328 Million Fraud Scheme

A federal jury in Dallas on Friday convicted Keith J. Gray, a 39-year-old former University of Connecticut football player and NFL veteran who later owned clinical laboratories in Texas, in connection with a large-scale medicare fraud scheme.

Gray owns and operates Axis Professional Labs LLC and Kingdom Health Laboratory LLC. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, he orchestrated a scheme in which the laboratories billed Medicare for medically unnecessary genetic tests intended to assess risks of various cardiovascular diseases and conditions.

Prosecutors established that Gray offered and paid kickbacks to marketers who referred Medicare beneficiaries’ DNA samples, personally identifiable information (including Medicare numbers), and signed test orders from medical providers. The marketers used telemarketing to solicit beneficiaries and engaged in “doctor chase” tactics, identifying patients’ primary care physicians and pressuring them to approve testing orders based on qualifications determined by non-medical personnel during phone calls, rather than by the physicians themselves.

To conceal the kickback payments, Gray employed sham contracts and invoices that described payments as compensation for “marketing” hours, though these were structured to align with per-sample kickback amounts. Additional efforts to hide the scheme included characterizing payments as being for “software” or nonexistent loans.

Evidence at trial included text messages between Gray and a co-conspirator discussing proceeds from the arrangement. In one exchange, the co-conspirator wrote, “$ent, you should have it any minute if you don’t already. Get it?”

Gray replied, “Sorry I was filling my bathtub with ones. Yes lol.”

Gray during his brief stint with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers

Axis and Kingdom billed Medicare approximately $328 million for the claims, which were described as false, fraudulent, and tainted by kickbacks. Medicare ultimately paid out roughly $54 million on those claims.

Gray laundered portions of the proceeds by purchasing luxury vehicles, including a Dodge Ram truck valued at more than $142,000 and a Mercedes-Benz SUV valued at more than $145,000, prosecutors established.

He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each count at sentencing, which has not yet been scheduled.

Gray was a standout football player at the University of Connecticut from 2004-2008. A redshirt senior in 2007, Gray served as a team captain and started all 13 games at center for the Huskies. He had appeared in 21 career games with 18 starts at the position overall.

After graduating, Gray signed with the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted free agent in 2009 but did not appear in any regular-season NFL games. He also spent time on the Indianapolis Colts’ practice squad and had a brief stint in the United Football League before transitioning to the healthcare sector.

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