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| | Michael Drobot, Former Owner Of Pacific Hospital And Raper Of Work Comp System In California, Surprisingly Pleads Not-Guilty In Federal Court. Judge Reveals Initial Plea Purely Procedural.
By Lonce LaMon - April 1, 2014
As part of his reason for not being able to speak to this writer by phone last month, the then brand new President and CEO of Argus West Investigative Services, Matthew Hopkins, wrote, “I’m heavily involved in the Drobot matter.”
Michael Drobot, the former owner of Pacific Hospital in Long Beach, appeared in Federal Court yesterday at the Santa Ana location of the Central District of California Federal Court System. Surprisingly, he pled not guilty to the Federal charges against him for medical billing fraud which include bribery.
Drobot gave bribes to Senator Ron Calderon, in order to influence him to oppose legislation that would plug the loop hole in the state law that allowed Drobot to mark up the prices of spinal hardware to astronomical levels. Just on Friday, Ron Calderon was suspended from the state senate along with Rod Wright, who has already been convicted of voter fraud, and Leland Yee, who has just been indicted for gun trafficking.
Darrel Steinberg, the President Pro Tem of the California State Senate, expressed in Friday’s senate hearing that he was shocked to see so many of his colleagues face felony charges this year. The senate only presently has about 40 members, so he said that “seven percent of the senate was brought up on criminal charges.”
Steinberg announced plans to cancel a Senate floor session in April so that senators and their staffs can participate in mandatory ethics training. He urged staff members with concerns about their bosses’ behaviors to come forward and report. Steinberg also spoke to reporters after the vote of 28 – 1 to suspend the three senators and made the comment, “there are some common sense things you just can’t teach”.
The not-guilty plea by Michael Drobot was odd as the U.S. Attorney’s office revealed in February 2014 that Drobot has agreed to plead guilty to counts of conspiracy and payment of kickbacks for his activities. Officials have stated Drobot filed more than 500 million dollars of fraudulent medical bills to the California workers’ compensation system. This is being called the largest medical fraud case in state history.
After Drobot’s not-guilty plea, Judge Douglas McCormick expressed that the court expected a change to a guilty plea at a future hearing. Apparently, Drobot’s initial not-guilty plea was done for purely procedural reasons. This arraignment hearing was very brief.
Judge Douglas McCormick has allowed Drobot to remain free. He is subject to a $5,000 bond and cannot travel outside of California, Oregon, Texas, Michigan, or Colorado without the court’s permission.
Drobot’s next court appearance is now scheduled for May 27th 2014.
lonce@adjustercom.com
Copyright by Lonce LaMon and adjustercom; all rights reserved.
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