U.S. Attorney Gregory Kehoe said the scheme ran from 2023 through late 2025 and targeted some of Jacksonville's lower-income neighborhoods, where marketers offered government-sponsored cellphones to residents and then collected their personal and insurance information through questionnaires.

Charles Griffin, who operated First Coast Community Development, and Jacksonville accountant Ethelbert Nwangbo were indicted and are awaiting trial, Kehoe said. Three other defendants have pleaded guilty: pharmacist Albert Chester, marketer Jonathan Gholston and nurse practitioner Rashawn Jones.

According to prosecutors, the defendants arranged prescriptions for HIV post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP, for people who never requested the medication, did not need it and had not been evaluated by a medical professional.

"The people that received these medications did not need them and did not want them," Kehoe said at a news conference.

Investigators interviewed recipients of the medication, Kehoe said. "Virtually all of them said, 'We never asked for it, we never requested it,'" he said.

Prosecutors described a kickback pipeline built into the operation. Griffin's pharmacy paid Gholston's marketing company $200 for each referral that resulted in an insurance payment, and Gholston then paid marketers $50 per prescription, according to Kehoe. Those payments were illegal because they depended on whether Medicare, Medicaid or a private insurer reimbursed the pharmacy, he said.

Chester generated the prescriptions, while Jones signed orders without examining or speaking with the people receiving the medication, Kehoe said.

Federal officials said Medicare losses totaled about $11.5 million and Medicaid losses about $12.5 million. Kehoe said Griffin received about $14 million, Chester about $5 million and Gholston about $2 million. Jones was paid more than $400,000, he said.

Officials said they do not know how many people actually took the drugs. Kehoe warned that taking prescription medication without a licensed physician's direction can be dangerous.

The government is seeking forfeiture of money and assets allegedly tied to the scheme, including about $8 million seized from Griffin, $364,000 seized from Chester, eight properties and six vehicles. Prosecutors are also seeking $18 million from Griffin and $6 million from Nwangbo in connection with alleged money laundering.

Kehoe said the investigation began after members of Jacksonville's medical community raised concerns, though he declined to provide further details.

The FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general's office and IRS Criminal Investigation took part in the investigation.

The case highlights the vulnerability of publicly funded health programs to sophisticated billing fraud and the risks posed to residents when prescriptions are written for people who never sought care. It also underscores the role that local medical professionals can play in flagging suspicious billing patterns before they grow into nine-figure losses.