Dr. Salomon Melgen was convicted of defrauding Medicare to the tune of over $40 million dollars by convincing his patients to undergo unnecessary eye exams.
According to North Jersey, Melgen was found guilty of 67 crimes that included health care fraud, submitting false claims and falsifying records in patients’ files.
He was separately on trial with Senator Menendez for giving him bribes in exchange for political favors. That trial ended in a mistrial, but the aforementioned trial got him 17 years in prison.
But Trump chose to commute Melgen’s sentence before he left office in 2021:
Dr. Salomon Melgen, the Democratic donor and friend of Sen. Bob Menendez who was convicted of defrauding elderly patients on Medicare, had his prison sentence commuted by President Donald Trump in the outgoing Republican president’s final hours in office.
Melgen was one of 143 people granted clemency by Trump early Wednesday morning in one of his final acts before the inauguration of Joe Biden. It continued a pattern of Trump forgiving the crimes of people close to him and those with political connections, no matter the party.
Melgen stood trial with Menendez in 2017, when the longtime friends faced corruption charges. That ended in a mistrial, but Melgen was convicted in a separate federal case of 67 crimes that included health care fraud, submitting false claims and falsifying records in patients’ files.
Prosecutors alleged Melgen stole $73 million from Medicare over several years by persuading elderly patients to undergo unnecessary eye treatments. Melgen was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
Menendez said in a statement Wednesday morning that he played a small part on Melgen’s behalf but “had no expectation that [Trump] would act.”
So why did Trump pardon him? North Jersey writes:
In announcing that he had commuted the eye doctor’s sentence, Trump said through the White House that the clemency was supported by Menendez, as well as U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla.
“Numerous patients and friends testify to his generosity in treating all patients, especially those unable to pay or unable to afford health care insurance,” the White House said.
Trump commuted his sentence because people asked him to, not because he deserved it. I bet they probably said really nice things to Trump and he decided to go ahead and do them this favor. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯