By Billy Davis

A federal judge told Dr. Robert Corkern this week the physician had been used by “greedy” men while he was attempting to help Tri-Lakes Medical Center.

U.S. District Judge Neal Biggers Jr. sentenced Corkern to two years’ house confinement this week and three year’s probation for bribing David Chandler, the former county administrator.

The doctor must also pay $400,000 in restitution, which will go to Panola County government after it’s paid through the Probation Court.  

In 2007 Chandler offered Corkern $400,000 in county funds in exchange for a $25,000 bribe, which Corkern paid.   

Judge: you were pawn

Biggers seemed to agree with Corkern’s claim, made during a federal trial in March, that the doctor sought the funds for the then-struggling Batesville hospital.

“It appears you allowed yourself to be used as a puppet or pawn by greedy, unscrupulous men to enrich themselves,” Biggers said, according to the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.

“You made a terrible mistake by letting these people outweigh your common sense,” Biggers told the doctor.

Corkern did not personally profit from the bribe to Chandler, and “you were evidently trying to save it,” Biggers said from the bench, referring to the hospital.

Tri-Lakes Medical Center eventually declared bankruptcy under Corkern’s watch, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office and FBI have claimed Corkern bears part of that responsibility.

A superseding indictment unsealed in October 2011 alleged the doctor embezzled approximately $2.8 million from Tri-Lakes, beginning in November 2005, until the hospital went bankrupt two years later.

But Biggers has been critical of the government’s handling of its wide-reaching investigation, and Chandler’s credibility as a key government witness has been criticized by defense attorneys.

Under a plea agreement with Corkern, the U.S. government dropped charges of conspiracy and fraud, and Corkern pleaded guilty to a single count of bribery – the payment to Chandler.

Corkern testifies

Corkern testified last February that he was uninformed about financial matters at the hospital, leaving that to then-CEO Ray Shoemaker and to the late David Vance, who died when his automobile struck a tree.

The physician said $291,000 that was transferred into his personal bank account by Vance was repayment for $500,000 in earnest money to purchase the hospital.

The money was intended for Tri-Lakes through a $4 million line of credit, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office dropped its allegation of an illegal wire transfer as part of the plea agreement.

Shoemaker’s transfer of money from the line of credit to a federal credit union also ensnared him in the government’s investigation.

Corkern admitted during trial he paid $25,000 to Chandler after the then-county administrator approached him four times, increasing the pressure each time.

“Chandler said he would take the hospital down,” Corkern testified with Biggers on the bench beside him. “And I believed he could do it.”

The attorney who was cross-examining Corkern at the time pointed out that Chandler was no longer on the hospital board at the time and had no power over Tri-Lakes.  

The court hearing this week revealed that Corkern is currently working at the Delta Regional Medical Center in Greenville, where attorney William Travis claimed his client has “pretty much resurrected” the ER at the hospital.

Corkern will be allowed to work for two years but must wear a monitoring device.

Edgerton sentenced

Another subject in the government’s investigation, insurance agent Richard Edgerton of Madison, was also sentenced in Oxford this week.

Edgerton was sentenced to two years probation and must wear an electronic device for six months according to a court official.

A federal indictment alleged the insurance agent paid Chandler in 2005 to secure business with county government.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office also alleged Edgerton produced false documents to the federal grand jury to claim checks he wrote out to Chandler were intended for wife, Wanda, for insurance work. The agent also lied to the FBI during its investigation in 2009, the government claimed.