Former NFL Player Joel Rufus French Sentenced to Over 16 Years for $197 Million Medicare and CHAMPVA Fraud

ORLANDO, Fla. — Joel Rufus French, a former NFL tight end who played for the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers, was sentenced Friday to 196 months in federal prison for his role in a yearslong scheme that defrauded Medicare and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) out of nearly $200 million.

French, 47, of Armory, Mississippi, was convicted in February following a six-day jury trial in the Middle District of Florida on charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to offer, pay, solicit, and receive kickbacks.

As the owner of a marketing company and the beneficial owner of eight durable medical equipment (DME) companies, French orchestrated a scheme that sold patient information and sham doctors’ orders for unnecessary orthotic braces. Overseas telemarketing call centers pressured elderly Americans and families of disabled or deceased veterans to provide personal and insurance details and agree to braces they did not need or want. French paid kickbacks to sham telemedicine companies for signed orders from doctors and nurse practitioners who never examined patients. The DME companies then billed Medicare and CHAMPVA using straw owners and false documents to conceal his involvement. He also laundered approximately $225,000 in proceeds, including cash transported to pay accomplices.

U.S. District Judge in the Middle District of Florida ordered French to pay $110,753,619 in restitution and to forfeit about $17 million seized from bank accounts and other assets.

Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division stated the scheme “preyed on senior citizens and disabled veterans to flood the country with unnecessary medical devices — and then billed the taxpayer for it.” He added that the sentence shows “if you target America’s elderly, sick, or vulnerable — and rob America’s purse doing so — you will be targeted and brought to justice.”

French, an All-American at the University of Mississippi, had a brief NFL career before entering the medical equipment business. The Department of Justice announced the sentencing on May 8, 2026.