Department of Justice
United States Attorney Gregory G. Lockhart
Southern District of Ohio
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
CONTACT: Fred Alverson |
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FORMER CLERMONT COUNTY CORONER SENTENCED FOR ROLE
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CINCINNATI –Nico Capurro, former coroner of Clermont County, was sentenced in United States District Court here today to 90 days of home incarceration, followed by two years of probation, in connection with his involvement with seven “pain clinics” in Lucasville, Chillicothe, Hanging Rock, and Jackson, Ohio. Capurro, age 81, was also ordered to forfeit $88,000 involved in the transactions.
Gregory G. Lockhart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Keith L. Bennett, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cincinnati Field Division; Jose Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation; Lamont Pugh, III, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and Lawrence County Sheriff Timothy W. Sexton announced the sentence handed down today by Senior United States District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel.
On September 4, 2007, Capurro pleaded guilty to one count of structuring money transactions to avoid reporting requirements.
According to a statement of facts filed with Capurro’s plea, he manipulated five deposits of cash and cashier’s checks into brokerage and bank accounts he owned in order to keep each transaction under $10,000. Federal law requires financial institutions to report cash transactions of $10,000 or more. Capurro made the deposits between May 2001 and June 2002.
Capurro also faces an audit by the IRS to determine if he faces any additional tax liability.
In addition to his involvement with the pain clinics mentioned above, he was also the attending physician of the Medical Rehabilitation Clinic pain clinic in Manchester, Ohio . The clinics accepted cash payments only ranging from $150 to $250 per patient per visit, and saw between 30 and 70 patients per day. None of the clinics maintained any diagnostic equipment.
Lockhart commended the cooperative investigation by agents of the FBI, IRS, HHS and deputies in the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office, and Deputy Criminal Chief Anthony Springer, who prosecuted the case.