The former CEO of Manhattan’s Hospital for Special Surgery pleaded guilty yesterday to pocketing nearly $300,000 in kickbacks from a subordinate staffer in exchange for negotiating payment of her annual bonus.
John Reynolds, 64, of Venice, Fla., took the plea before a magistrate judge in Manhattan federal court, admitting to committing wire fraud and making false statements to law enforcement regarding a scheme that netted him $298,500 between 2000 and 2005.
He admitted accepting the kickbacks from then-staffer Maryellen Keenan — who also had authority to do outside consulting work at the time — and then hiding the financial arrangement from the hospital’s board of directors.
“I knew my arrangement with Ms. Keenan would not be permitted,” Reynolds told the judge.
Reynolds was initially charged by the feds in January with netting $1.4 million in kickbacks through three separate schemes from 1996 to 2007.
He had been facing up to 25 years behind bars and $500,000 in fines, but under the sentencing guidelines of the plea deal, his recommended jail time is 27 to 33 months with a fine of $6,000 to $60,000.
Reynolds, who will be sentenced Nov. 7, will also have to fork over $718,500.
He and his lawyer, Michael Grudberg, declined to comment on the deal afterward.