My story is one of injustice and the unlawful pursuit of a case by the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and the FBI. It was a case built without real evidence, plagued by media leaks, and coerced testimony from already indicted individuals who ultimately perjured themselves on the stand. Those willing to testify on my behalf were threatened into silence.
The impact of this ordeal devastated my family. My young son will forever be traumatized by the sight of law enforcement in full body armor, storming our home with weapons drawn and pointed at me. Our street was blocked off, law enforcement swarmed our property, and the aftermath destroyed friendships, traumatized a family, and severely damaged my reputation.
To survive during this timeframe, I drove for Uber while relying on a public defender to represent me in court—a fact the prosecution made sure the jury never learned.
At the center of the case against me was the accusation that I had received confidential, non-public government information. Yet, after reviewing over two million files during discovery, not a single document showed that any confidential—or even non-confidential—information had ever been given to me by a government official. Despite being offered multiple plea deals from the very start, I rejected them all. The government tried every intimidation tactic available to coerce me into taking a plea and implicating others—innocent people. I refused. I could not, in good conscience, ruin other people’s lives to save my own.
My career began at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where I worked until 2005. I was later encouraged by several healthcare leaders to transition into advising investment firms on healthcare policy. I never invested in healthcare companies myself—out of personal principle—so that I could provide unbiased and informed guidance. My years of experience at HHS gave me deep insight into healthcare regulations and policy, which became highly valuable to my clients in the investment world.
Over time, I built a strong reputation for accurately forecasting healthcare policy developments. I was frequently consulted on complex regulatory matters. My analysis sometimes upset critical stakeholders, especially when my memos were seen as influencing stock values. For example, I published research notes highlighting the overutilization of radiation therapy, driven by inappropriate reimbursement incentives. Congress held a hearing on this issue, revealing that some oncology practices were overtreating patients, causing serious harm and even death. An attorney from one of the largest radiation therapy manufacturers threatened to sue me over the report, even though it was based on publicly discussed Congressional findings.
In other instances, I analyzed the reimbursement models for medical devices and provided expected future trends in reimbursement. My commentary sometimes upset companies and their stock owners, especially those whose profits depended on inflated reimbursement rates that were likely to change. Despite my reports being fact-based, some of my reports triggered threats of lawsuits. As the pressure intensified, I learned from colleagues during a lunch meeting that one executive had hired a team of lawyers with the intent to “ruin my life.”
Initially, I dismissed this threat. My work was factual and honest. But then came alarming news: a well-known Wall Street Journal (WSJ) investigative reporter had been asking around about me in Washington, D.C. He was speaking with people I knew personally, and according to them and other sources, the WSJ reporter was not conducting a fair or neutral investigation. He began conversations with a clear bias against me and started the conversation by them stating I was a bad person. When presented with information to dispute that, the reporter continued down a path of negative comments about me.
What I discovered next was even more disturbing. Just before my trial, I learned that the reporter colleague at the WSJ had been in contact with a supervisor of the FBI office at SDNY. The WSJ colleague and the FBI supervising agent exchanged confidential, non-public information regarding a high-profile case involving a famous sports gambler. In return, the WSJ reporter offered the FBI information about me—information that would spark the launch of a federal investigation. This was a clear quid pro quo—a journalist leveraging her access to influence, working hand-in-hand with law enforcement to purposely negatively impact someone’s life before an investigation had even begun.
In typical SDNY white-collar investigations, a decision to prosecute is made within 12 to 18 months from the start of the case. In my case, it dragged on for about three years. I later learned the government had no real evidence and had interrogated “witnesses” over twenty times, pressuring them to change their statements. Only after the government agreed to drop criminal charges in unrelated cases did those individuals agree to testify against me.
The executive who earlier threatened to “ruin my life” stated at a later separate meeting with a colleague of mine, declared out of nowhere that the process had already begun to destroy my life. Unknowingly, by anybody else at that meeting, including me at the time, there was a case started by the SDNY and the FBI, and an article by the WSJ was about to be published within a month after this was said. How would he possibly know this information unless he was deeply involved?
The morning of my arrest was traumatic. Around 5:30 AM, I was in bed with my five-year-old son, comforting him after a nightmare. A loud knock woke us up. I looked through the blinds and saw law enforcement officers in full tactical gear pointing automatic weapons at me, shouting to open the door. My son began asking what was happening. I told the officers I was unarmed, and the only thing I asked was that they shield my son from the scene. A social worker rushed upstairs to keep him in his room. He was terrified and not allowed to speak to me.
Officers swarmed the house—I heard them on the roof, saw them in the backyard—and they blocked off the entire street.
At the FBI facility, an agent told me, “I came down here specifically for you. Help us arrest some other people, and you can walk away from all of this.” I was handcuffed to a desk, repeatedly told that I could “get out of this” if I gave them names. When I refused, they screamed at me, threw the indictment at me, and took me to be processed in court.
There, I was shackled at the wrists and ankles, a chain around my waist. I was first placed in a holding cell with a violent felon—an obvious intimidation tactic. The agents kept returning, offering deals and dropping names of people they wanted to charge. I said nothing. They later moved me to a cramped holding cell with about 15 other inmates on their way to a high-security prison. Again, they tried to intimidate me into cooperating. Again, I said nothing.
Discovery revealed the government’s strategy: they cut deals with already-indicted individuals in exchange for false testimony. People who had originally told the truth—that I committed no crime—were coerced into reversing their statements. In return, all charges against them were dropped.
As trial approached, the intimidation ramped up. For example, law enforcement officials approached one potential witness who was willing to testify on my behalf and notified them such possible move may lead to their client’s arrest. I was offered plea deals up to just a few months before trial—an unusual move that suggested desperation.
The goal was clear a month or so before my trial: in the last plea deal, the government wanted me to lie and implicate over 30 people, including employees at hedge funds and individuals in Washington. If I had taken the final plea deal, it would’ve become the largest insider trading case in U.S. history. I refused. Again, I would not destroy innocent lives to save myself.
After years of appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review my case. In briefing documents before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Solicitor General admitted error in my case and agreed it should be dismissed. The U.S. Supreme Court vacated and remanded the case back to the U.S. Second Circuit and overturned my conviction in 2023, almost a decade after the government first targeted me.
For years after the arrest, I did whatever I could to survive, struggling to support my family. Every time I left the house, my son would ask, “Dad, are you coming back?” Between the ages of five and seven, I had to prepare him for the possibility that I might disappear for a very long time. Those conversations left deep emotional scars.
Throughout the trial, the SDNY told the jury that my co-defendants and I were wealthy and would be fine regardless of the outcome. The jury never knew I was represented by a public defender. Even now, though I’ve been exonerated, the indictment remains on the SDNY website, and countless news articles remain online. That stain never truly goes away. Yet, the SDNY prosecutors used my case to propel themselves to very high-paying law firms, and the lead prosecutor is working in-house with one of the largest hedge funds in the world as their head attorney.
This experience opened my eyes to the flaws and vulnerabilities in our justice system—the unchecked power, the corruption, and how far individuals will go when driven by ambition or personal vendettas. I am dedicating my life to fighting for reform, to ensure that no innocent person is ever put through what I endured.
