United States v. Muoghalu

POSNER, Circuit Judge.

A jury convicted the defendant, Muoghalu, of a variety of federal felonies relating to his solicitation and receipt of kickbacks, and the judge sentenced him to 22 months in prison. Muoghalu had been indicted along with Joseph Levato, who had directed the payment of the kickbacks by his firm, but Levato pleaded guilty and testified against Muoghalu.

Muoghalu was the pharmacy director of the Provena St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, Illinois, and had considerable, perhaps decisive, influence over the hospital’s decisions concerning which drugs to stock. Levato was the…