Primary Health Networkl fraud conspiracy defendants file pre-trial motions

Apr. 16—PITTSBURGH — Defendants filed pretrial motions Monday in federal court in the prosecution of accusations that they conspired to steal more than $2 million from Primary Health Network.

In the motions, the defendants requested further evidentiary discovery information from prosecutors, including specific information such as dates and times, and for the dismissal of 10 counts of the indictments.

There is no word as to when U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan will rule on the motions.

Accused in participating in the conspiracy to defraud PHN between 2011 and 2019 and those who submitted pretrial motions are Drew Pierce of West Middlesex, Mark Marriott of Sharpsville, John "Jack" Laeng of West Middlesex and John O'Brien of Masury.

In February, Christopher O'Brien, of Masury, Ohio, pleaded guilty to a felony count of conspiring to commit mail or wire fraud.

O'Brien said at his plea hearing that as a contractor he directed workers to create fraudulent invoices amounting to $136,200 paid to them by PHN for what was described as flooring projects at PHN branches that his company never performed.

O'Brien is free on bond pending sentencing, which was continued to Aug. 22.

The potential maximum sentence is up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines plus restitution of $493,868.72 split among the co-defendants.

The remaining defendants await rulings on the pretrial motions filed Monday.

Pierce was PHN's chief financial officer from 2011 to 2014 and chief executive officer from 2011 to 2014, an employee of the organization through 2016 and a board member of the affiliated charitable organization PHN Charitable Foundation into 2020.

Marriott was PHN's facilities administrator until 2020.

The five were charged May 9, 2023, with conspiracy to commit mail or wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and mail or wire fraud.

Federal prosecutors accused the men of creating non-existent companies that received payments from PHN for services never performed.

On Jan. 29, 2020, federal agents, bearing subpoenas and warrants, raided the headquarters of PHN and PHN Charitable Foundation, both in Sharon.

PHN officials and federal authorities had no comment on the subpoenas at the time. However, PHN's board dismissed Pierce and Marriott April 6, 2020.

At the time of the raid, Laeng had retired but was a member of the PHN Charitable Foundation board.

The Sharon-based non-profit PHN is a federally qualified health center, an agency designated by the U.S. government to provide health care services to people who would otherwise not have access, either for geographic or economic factors.

PHN operates health centers in 16 counties including Mercer, Butler, Cambria, Crawford, Erie, Lawrence, Northumberland and Venango as well as in Ashtabula County in Ohio. The agency is a community health care provider that serves unserved and underserved communities.

EDITOR'S NOTE: All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court or adjudicated guilty.

Follow Melissa Klaric on twitter @HeraldKlaric or email her at mklaric@sharonherald.com