BOSTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Massachusetts), published as received.

BOSTON – A sales representative for multiple healthcare companies pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Boston ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­in connection with obstruction of an investigation into kickbacks paid to medical professionals.

Terrence Kyle Tackett, 49, of Florence, Ky., pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of a criminal investigation of health care offenses.  U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs scheduled sentencing for Sept. 14, 2016. 

From 2012 to 2013, Tackett worked as a sale representative in Kentucky for a California-based healthcare company, and from August 2013 to February 2015, he worked for a Massachusetts pharmaceutical company.  During that period, Tackett gave medical professionals gift cards and personal checks in exchange for ordering or prescribing the products he promoted.  During a January 2015 meeting with investigators, Tackett falsely denied and attempted to conceal the kickbacks he paid to physicians and their staffs.

The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of 250,000 and restitution.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen Ortiz; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Phillip Coyne, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations; Mark McCormack, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, Metro Washington Field Office; and Susan Hensley, Regional Director of U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sara Miron Bloom, Young Paik, and Kriss Basil of Ortiz’s Office, with assistance from the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch and the Food and Drug Administration.