ARCHER CITY, Texas - A Texas man who fled after pleading guilty to a multimillion-dollar Medicare fraud scheme has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison.
What we know:
Robert "Bobby" Leon Smith III, 50, of Archer City, Texas, was sentenced to 12 years in prison Wednesday for heading up a $61.5 million fraud ring that spanned Texas, Florida, Maryland and the Philippines. It involved using purchased or fake doctor’s orders to send patients orthotic braces, foot baths and genetic tests they didn’t need.
The backstory:
Federal prosecutors said they presented phone call recordings at Smith’s trial in which he could be heard complaining about doctor’s orders he bought that he couldn’t sell. The recordings also included Smith pressuring Medicare beneficiaries to take the products even after they said they didn’t want them.
After four days of trial in 2025, Smith pleaded guilty to conspiracy and health care fraud charges but never showed up for sentencing. He was on the run for more than a month before U.S. Marshals caught him, prosecutors said.
Dig deeper:
In addition to his prison term, Smith was ordered to pay $30.2 million in restitution and forfeit $9.2 million as well as some Texas real estate.
The Source: Information in this story came from the U.S. Department of Justice.