JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville-area medical device sales representative was sentenced to four years in Florida state prison on June 25, after being convicted of organized fraud connected to a years-long theft scheme at a Northeast Florida hospital.
Scott Michael Weller, 56, of St. Johns, was adjudicated guilty on a charge of organized fraud resulting in property valued at $50,000 or more, according to court records.
The scheme
According to a civil complaint filed in June 2022 by Baptist Health System, Inc., Weller began the fraudulent scheme in approximately April 2014, shortly after being hired by Stryker Sales, LLC — operating as Stryker Craniomaxillofacial — as a sales representative serving Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville. Stryker Craniomaxillofacial specializes in implants used in cranial, neurological, and spinal procedures.
The complaint alleges Weller worked with Lakeisha Lawrence Rencher, a supply chain coordinator at Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville, to systematically over-order craniomaxillofacial implants and other medical devices. Once the products arrived at the hospital’s loading dock, Rencher allegedly allowed Weller access to a secure operating room storage area, where he would load the excess products into his backpack and walk out of the building…