On Friday, a federal jury in Dallas convicted 39 year old former University of Connecticut football player and brief NFL veteran Keith J. Gray for orchestrating a massive Medicare fraud scheme tied to his Texas based clinical laboratories, Axis Professional Labs LLC and Kingdom Health Laboratory LLC.
According to court documents and trial evidence, Gray directed a scheme that billed Medicare for medically unnecessary genetic tests. These tests were marketed as assessments for cardiovascular disease risk, but prosecutors argued they were pushed through aggressive telemarketing and questionable referral tactics rather than genuine medical need.
The mechanics of the scheme were detailed and deliberate. Prosecutors showed that Gray paid kickbacks to marketers who supplied DNA samples, Medicare beneficiary information, and signed test orders from medical providers. The marketers allegedly used telemarketing to solicit seniors and then engaged in what was described as “doctor chase” tactics, identifying patients’ primary care physicians and pressuring them to approve testing orders. Crucially, those qualifications were often determined by non medical personnel during phone calls, not by physicians making independent medical judgments.
To disguise the kickbacks, Gray used sham contracts and invoices. Payments were labeled as compensation for “marketing” hours, but the amounts reportedly lined up with per sample referral rates. Other payments were masked as software fees or even nonexistent loans. The paper trail, prosecutors argued, was carefully constructed to look legitimate while hiding the underlying arrangement.
Text messages introduced at trial painted a picture of someone aware of the cash flowing in. In one exchange, a co conspirator texted, “$ent, you should have it any minute if you don’t already. Get it?” Gray responded, “Sorry I was filling my bathtub with ones. Yes lol.”
Altogether, Axis and Kingdom billed Medicare approximately $328 million in claims that prosecutors described as false, fraudulent, and tainted by kickbacks. Medicare paid out roughly $54 million. Gray then used portions of those proceeds to purchase luxury vehicles, including a Dodge Ram truck worth more than $142,000 and a Mercedes Benz SUV valued at over $145,000.
Gray now faces up to 10 years in prison on each count. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.
Before entering the healthcare business, Gray was a standout center at the University of Connecticut from 2004 to 2008, serving as a team captain and starting all 13 games in his senior season. After going undrafted in 2009, he signed with the Carolina Panthers and later spent time with the Indianapolis Colts’ practice squad before moving on from football.
What began as a promising athletic career ended in a federal conviction tied to one of the most persistent problems in American healthcare, Medicare fraud.
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