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A28 u.s. news
Diahuebs 8 Juli 2021

Pharmacy exec resentenced to 14 years in meningitis outbreak

chief of the health care fraud state court, where the cases
unit in Massachusetts’ federal are still pending.
prosecutors office. “He knew
the dangers he was creating Cadden’s lawyers had tried
for patients in this country to push the blame onto Chin
every time he got behind the and argue Cadden had every
wheel at NECC.” reason to believe the drugs
were sterile. Chin pointed
Strachan read aloud a letter the finger back at Cadden, ar-
written from the mother of guing that the co-owner was
a woman who continues to the one calling the shots.
suffer serious health prob-
lems and is confined to bed Cadden tearfully apologized
75% of the time as a result of to the victims during his first
receiving the mold-tainted sentencing hearing in 2017,
injection. Laura Brinton’s saying “I am sorry for the
mother implored the judge whole range of suffering that
to impose a longer punish- resulted from my company’s
ment, detailing the agony drugs.”
that her daughter and others
have endured. Cadden’s attorney acknowl-
edged that the victims “have
“My beautiful, educated, gra- endured great suffering and
cious, successful daughter great harm,” but noted that
has asked me many times Cadden was acquitted of the
(AP) — A founder of a people and sickened hun- tom mix medications and why we didn’t let her die,” most serious charges against
now-defunct Massachu- dreds of others. supply them directly to hos- Brinton’s mother wrote in him. Defense attorney Bruce
setts pharmaceutical facil- pitals and doctors. the letter. “I have told her we Singal said Cadden’s original
ity responsible for a dead- The 1st U.S. Circuit Court Prosecutors say the facility all hoped that living would nine-year sentence was more
ly meningitis outbreak of Appeals vacated Cad- cut corners to boost profits, bring with it restored health. than fair for a fraud convic-
will spend 14 and a half den’s sentence last year and neglected to properly disin- How wrong we were.” tion.
years behind bars, a fed- ordered the judge to re-ex- fect its rooms, shipped drugs
eral judge ruled Wednes- amine whether certain en- before receiving test results After lengthy trials in Bos- “From a legal standpoint, I do
day, lengthening his initial hancements in sentencing and ignored warning signs ton’s federal court, Cadden not believe that it is appropri-
punishment of nine years guidelines that call for stiffer that its production methods and pharmacist Glenn Chin, ate that this court’s sentence
that was tossed out by an punishments should apply. were unsafe. Prosecutors had who oversaw the facility’s reflect the deaths and serious
appeals court. urged U.S. District Judge so-called clean rooms, were injuries that resulted because
The outbreak was traced to Richard Stearns to resen- both acquitted of second- they have no relationship to
Barry Cadden, who was mold-tainted steroid injec- tence Cadden to more than degree murder under un- the offenses of conviction,”
president and co-owner of tions produced by the com- 17 years in prison. der the federal racketeering he said.
the now-closed New Eng- pany in Framingham, located law but were found guilty of
land Compounding Center, about 20 miles (32 kilome- “Mr. Cadden ran an opera- fraud, racketeering and other The appeals court also or-
showed little emotion as he ters) west of Boston. The tion full of fraud and oppor- crimes. dered a new sentence for
was sentenced for a second scandal threw a spotlight on tunism that was so risky to Chin, who got eight years
time after being convicted of compounding pharmacies, patients and he profited well They were both subsequent- behind bars in 2018. Chin is
fraud and other crimes in the which differ from ordinary off of it,” said Assistant U.S. ly charged with second- expected to be resentenced
2012 outbreak that killed 100 drugstores in that they cus- Attorney Amanda Strachan, degree murder in Michigan on Thursday.

Judge: Air Force mostly at fault in 2017 Texas church attack

(AP) — A federal judge database, could have prevent- and exchanged fire with him. semi-automatic rifle used in
has ruled that the U.S. The attack remains the worst ed Kelley from buying guns Kelley fled as two Sutherland shooting. Academy Sports
Air Force is mostly re- mass shooting in Texas his- from licensed firearms deal- Springs residents gave chase, and Outdoors had appealed
sponsible for a former tory. ers, and also from possessing and died of an apparent self- after two lower courts de-
serviceman killing more body armor. inflicted gunshot wounds clined to dismiss lawsuits.
than two dozen people “The trial conclusively es- after losing control of his ve-
at a Texas church in 2017 tablished that no other indi- Rodriguez said that had the hicle and crashing. The lawsuit against the fed-
because it failed to submit vidual — not even Kelley’s government done its job and eral government was brought
his criminal history into own parents or partners — entered Kelley’s history into Last month, the Texas Su- by family members of the
a database, which should knew as much as the United the database, “it is more likely preme Court ruled that sur- victims. Rodriguez ordered
have prevented him from States about the violence that than not that Kelley would vivors and relatives can’t sue a later trial to assess damages
purchasing firearms. Devin Kelley had threatened have been deterred from car- a sporting goods chain where owed to the families.
to commit and was capable rying out the Church shoot- Kelley purchased an AR-556
U.S. District Judge Xavier of committing,” Rodriguez ing.”
Rodriguez in San Anto- wrote.
nio wrote in a ruling signed An Air Force spokeswoman
Wednesday that the Air Force Kelley had served nearly five did not immediately return a
was “60% responsible” for years in the Air Force before request seeking comment.
the massacre at First Baptist being discharged in 2014 for
Church in the small town of bad conduct, after he was Authorities said Kelley fired
Sutherland Springs, where convicted of assaulting a for- at least 450 rounds at help-
Devin Kelley opened fire mer wife and stepson, crack- less worshippers who tried
during a Sunday service. Au- ing the child’s skull. The Air taking cover in the pews. As
thorities put the official death Force has publicly acknowl- he left the small wood-frame
toll at 26 because one of the edged that the felony convic- church, Kelley was confront-
25 people killed was preg- tion for domestic violence, ed by an armed resident who
nant. had it been put into the FBI had grabbed his own rifle