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Five months later, however, Florida Gov. Rick Scott appointed Armor Correctional founder and
president Dr. Jose “Pepe” Armas to a coveted seat on the powerful Constitution Revision
Commission that will recommend changes next year to the Florida Constitution.
Armas and companies he controls have contributed nearly $300,000 to Scott’s election
campaigns, his Let’s Get to Work political committees and to the Republican Party of Florida.
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“Armas is a distinguished physician and healthcare executive whose focus on patient-centered
care has defined his career,” Gov. Scott’s office said in announcing his appointment to the
commission in March.
What happened in New York wasn’t the first time an Armas-led company has been in trouble.
In 2013, Armas’s MCCI Group Holdings LLC paid $1.6 million to the U.S. Department of
Justice to settle a whistleblower lawsuit under the False Claims Act alleging that MCCI had
violated the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and the Anti-Inducement Act. MCCI denied the
allegations, but also paid another $300,000 in attorney fees to the whistleblower’s attorney.
“MCCI reached a settlement to avoid the delay, inconveniences and expense of litigation,” said
Armas spokeswoman Melisa Chantres.
At the time, MCCI owned and operated medical clinics in Miami-Dade and contracted with
Humana, which was also named in the qui tam suit, to provide care, including prescription
drugs, to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.
The complaint, filed in federal court in Miami, did not allege any wrongdoing by Armas himself,
but contended that MCCI broke the law “by providing to its current and potential Medicare
beneficiaries free services and gifts, such as transportation, meals, beauty and salon services,
massages and entertainment,” according to the settlement agreement. The illegal activities
allegedly took place between 2000 and 2012.
Last month, the U.S. formally intervened in the case to recover damages against only one of
those defendants, Dr. Isaac Kojo Anakwah Thompson, and not against MCCI. Assistant U.S.
Attorney Mark Lavine did not explain in court papers why the government declined to intervene
against MCCI or Humana. Thompson, Baez’s former partner, was sentenced to 46 months’
imprisonment in July 2016 after pleading guilty to health-care fraud.
Baez could have filed an amended False Claims Act complaint to proceed against MCCI in the
name of the United States, but did not do so. MCCI spokeswoman Chantres said the company
was never served legal notice of the lawsuit and called Baez “a complete stranger to MCCI.”
“However instead of holding true to its promise Armor chose to maximize profits. Armor knew
that the result of putting profits before patients would be that some inmates with serious
medical conditions would not get the care that they were entitled to,” the lawsuit says.
The complaint goes on to identify five other Broward inmates who it says died “slow, horrible
and preventable deaths in the same jail” from 2011-2012 because of Armor’s decision to
maximize profits. The five are identified as: William Campbell, arrested for DUI; Gary Joseph
Smith, arrested for possession of cocaine; Calvin Goldsmith, arrested for trespassing; Raleigh
Priester, arrested for throwing a rock at a city employee; Arthur Sacco, arrested for an
unspecified misdemeanor.
Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein’s office represents many inmates under Armor’s
care. He said what he’s observed about Armor is disturbing.
“If you have a family member who is in jail and their life depends on Armor for medical
treatment, you’re in trouble,” Finkelstein said. “The name of the game with Armor is to withhold
treatment until the inmate is released, sent to prison and it becomes someone else’s
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treatment, or dies.”
Chantres said Armor does not comment on pending legal matters, but noted the company
“strives to deliver excellent patient care daily.”
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