:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/65HOWY3AZVBXLGGDLCGSMLGWYY.jpg)
SYCAMORE - A Sycamore businessman facing federal charges related to a $3 million tax evasion and fraud scheme concocted with a former Wisconsin hospital executive is expected to appear before a federal judge in Wisconsin on Thursday for a plea hearing.
Ryan Weckerly, 46, of Sycamore, of MorningStar Media Group in Sycamore, is charged with wire fraud, tax evasion and aiding and abetting a false income tax return. Federal prosecutors say Weckerly took part in a five-year scheme to defraud Janesville, Wisconsin-based health system Mercyhealth out of $3 million.
Weckerly is set to appear in front of US District Judge William Conley for a plea hearing at 1 p.m. Thursday at the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, in the federal courthouse in Madison, Wisconsin.
Although court documents show Weckerly agreed to plead guilty Aug. 10 to the federal charges, new documents filed Oct. 8 by Weckerly’s Chicago-based lawyer Steven Greenberg show Thursday’s hearing will include a change of plea.
Weckerly has not yet entered a formal plea before a judge, according to records.
[ Feds charge Sycamore-based MorningStar Media owner in $3M kickback scheme with ex-hospital executive ]
Greenberg did not respond to a request for comment, but said Weckerly’s prior plea hearing date, originally scheduled for Oct. 15, had been canceled.
Multiple requests to MorningStar Media Group for comment have not been returned. Weckerly could not be reached for comment.
Prosecutors say Weckerly partnered with former Mercyhealth vice president of marketing and communications, Barbara Bortner, 57, of Milton, Wisconsin. Mercyhealth is a regional healthcare provider based in Janesville, Wisconsin, that has hospitals in Rockford and Harvard and another in the works in Crystal Lake.
Bortner pleaded guilty in front of Conley on Oct. 14, according to federal court records. She’s scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 17.
Federal prosecutors said that Weckerly, in partnership with Bortner, falsified tax documents and sent inflated invoices, shuffling large sums of money throughout multiple bank accounts for years.
Bortner was charged with wire fraud and tax evasion. Court records show prosecutors had been setting up the plea deal since early August, and both Bortner and Weckerly agreed to plead guilty.
Bortner was fired from the health system before the charges were announced Sept. 1, according to a letter obtained by the Daily Chronicle sent by Mercyhealth President and CEO Javon Bea.
It’s unclear whether Weckerly remains employed with MorningStar Media Group. According to records from the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office, Weckerly was listed as the president of MorningStar as of 2021 for the corporation.
According to federal court records, the two concocted the kickback scheme in February 2015. Weckerly would submit inflated invoices for marketing work at Mercyhealth and Bortner would receive kickbacks in return. They also agreed that Bortner would continue using Morningstar Media Group as the health system’s primary ad agency.
According to the proposed plea agreements outlined in federal court documents, Bortner agreed that she owes the Internal Service Revenue more than $777,000 in restitution. Weckerly has agreed he owes the IRS $30,419 in restitution, according to court records. They both agreed that the total amount of the scheme came out to about $3.14 million from February 2015 to mid-2020.
Federal wire fraud charges carry a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison and fines up to $250,000. As part of the proposed plea agreement, Weckerly and Bortner have both agreed to pay an additional amount in restitution that has not yet been determined, according to court records. At their sentencing, both will be required to pay the IRS back taxes immediately, including through asset seizure, records show.