United States of America v. Robert "Bobby" Leon Smith, III

Archer City, Texas, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with health care fraud and wire fraud conspirac.

Robert “Bobby” Leon Smith III, 50, of Archer City, Texas, owned and operated seven durable medical equipment (DME) supply companies based in Florida, Texas, and Maryland through which he submitted millions of dollars in false claims to Medicare for orthotic braces and foot baths that beneficiaries did not need.

The Government claimed that Smith stole $61.5 million from Medicare beneficiaries who were the victims of deceptive telemarketing were sent thousands of orthotic braces, foot baths, and genetic tests they did not need.

Smith also owned a marketing company based in Texas that he used to conduct deceptive telemarketing campaigns that targeted Medicare beneficiaries for medical services they did not need. Working with an offshore call center located in the Philippines, Smith and his co-conspirators peddled medically unnecessary orthotic braces, foot baths, and genetic tests to Medicare beneficiaries nationwide. In audio recordings presented at trial, Smith was heard pressuring beneficiaries to accept these products even after the beneficiaries protested that they did not need or want them.

Smith obtained doctors’ orders for these products by paying kickbacks and bribes to illegitimate telemedicine companies. He then sold these doctors’ orders to other medical suppliers that he knew used them to submit false and fraudulent claims to Medicare. In another recording presented at trial, Smith was heard complaining about instances in which he bought doctors’ orders he could not sell, calling the orders “trash” and “junk.” Smith’s former business partner testified that they eventually began using “fake” doctors’ orders that contained forged signatures of doctors who were unaware of the scheme.

After four days of a jury trial, Smith pleaded guilty in March 2025 to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud and one count of health care fraud. Smith absconded and failed to appear for sentencing. He remained at large for over a month before he was apprehended by the U.S. Marshals Service. At sentencing, the Court ordered Smith to pay $30,158,608.25 in restitution and to forfeit $9,215,225 as well as real estate located in Texas.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Scott J. Lampert of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); and Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office made the announcement.

HHS-OIG and FBI investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Owen Dunn of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.

The Defendant was found guilty by a jury and was sentenced to 150 months in prison and two years of supervised release.