Arkansas promoter sentenced to 36 months for paying recruiters to find TRICARE members for compounded creams no prescriber had discussed with them
Brad Duke, 47, of Little Rock, Arkansas promoted pain creams, scar creams and supplements for a Mississippi-based compounding pharmacy and earned a share of whatever the pharmacy was paid. On May 4, 2022 a federal judge sentenced him to 36 months and ordered him to forfeit $1,055,855.86. The U.S. Attorney's office said that within a year his scheme generated over $10 million in compound drug prescriptions for over 100 TRICARE beneficiaries across the country, that he paid recruiters more than $2 million, and that no one ever consulted a prescriber. Six co-conspirators were sentenced earlier to between 8 and 28 months.
- Year
- 2022
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Sentenced
- Reported loss
- $10.0 million
- Victims
- 100
- Schemes
- Compounded prescription fraud
- Last reviewed
- 2026-11-03
The facts, as recorded
- Duke learned that TRICARE paid tens of thousands of dollars per month per patient for the compounded drugs he was promoting, and then began offering and paying kickbacks to generate prescriptions for people with TRICARE insurance.
- He paid recruiters in Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas to find TRICARE beneficiaries around the country who were willing to receive the drugs.
- According to the U.S. Attorney's office, a doctor would sign off on the prescriptions without ever consulting the patients, and all Duke needed was beneficiary insurance information sufficient to fill out prescription forms.
- Duke routed the prescriptions to a medical assistant, Charlotte Leija, whom he paid kickbacks, usually $1,000 per prescription, to file them under the name of the doctor she worked for.
- Within a year the scheme generated over $10 million in prescriptions for over 100 TRICARE beneficiaries, from Chula Vista, California to Foxborough, Massachusetts.
- Duke paid recruiters more than $2 million and Leija more than $250,000. The release says no one ever consulted a prescriber.
- Six co-conspirators were previously sentenced to prison terms of 8 to 28 months and ordered to forfeit between $198,799.00 and $598,435.99. Marshals had already seized $1,055,855.86 from Duke.
Why this case matters
It is the shortest documented path from a payer’s generosity to a prosecution. The U.S. Attorney’s office says Duke began paying kickbacks only after learning how much TRICARE paid per patient, and that the whole operation needed little more than insurance details to fill out the forms.
A prescription with no conversation
The release says a doctor would sign off on prescriptions “without ever consulting the patients,” and that Duke routed the forms through a local medical assistant who was paid, usually $1,000 per prescription, to file them under the name of the doctor she worked for. It concludes: “No one ever consulted a prescriber.”
Recruiters across the country
Duke paid five recruiters, living in Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas, to find TRICARE beneficiaries “around the country.” The resulting prescriptions went to over 100 beneficiaries living as far apart as California and Massachusetts, which is how a scheme run from Little Rock reached members who never met anyone involved.
The caveat
Duke has been sentenced, so this is a resolved criminal case, not an allegation. The $10 million is the amount of prescriptions generated, as the U.S. Attorney’s office puts it, not necessarily the amount TRICARE paid, and this page uses it as the loss figure only because the release gives no other. The release says the pharmacy was “Mississippi-based” and does not name it, and this page does not either. It does not say whether the pharmacy or its prescribers were separately charged.
Sources
- Ringleader of $10 Million TRICARE Scheme Sentenced. Oversight.gov, republishing the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Arkansas release. Accessed 2026-11-03. Supports: Duke's age and home town, the Mississippi-based pharmacy, the 36-month sentence and forfeiture, the kickbacks to recruiters and to the medical assistant, the $10 million in prescriptions for over 100 beneficiaries, the $2 million and $250,000 payments and the co-conspirators' sentences.