Dallas jury convicts ex-NFL hopeful who stole $54M from Medicare with fake tests

Jury convicts Texas lab owner of fraud

A federal jury in Dallas convicted Keith J. Gray on Feb. 19, 2026, for running a $328 million Medicare fraud scheme.

Gray, 39, of McKinney, Texas, owned two clinical labs that billed Medicare for cardiovascular genetic tests that patients never needed. Medicare paid out about $54 million of those claims.

The Department of Justice announced the conviction the next day. Gray now faces nine federal charges, each carrying up to 10 years in prison.

Gray went from football to fraud

Before the labs, Gray played college football. He was a center and team captain at the University of Connecticut from 2004 to 2008, then entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2009.

He had short stints with the Carolina Panthers and Indianapolis Colts but never played in a regular-season game. Gray also spent time in the now-defunct United Football League before walking away from football.

He later opened two clinical labs in the Dallas area.

Kickbacks drove the whole operation

Gray paid marketers for every DNA sample and set of personal information they brought in from Medicare patients.

Those marketers also handed over signed test orders from doctors, giving the labs what they needed to bill Medicare.

The tests were supposed to check for cardiovascular disease risk, but they were not medically necessary. The kickback payments were tied directly to the number of samples each marketer delivered.

Telemarketers chased down doctors for sign-offs

The marketers hired other companies to cold-call Medicare patients.

Once they had a patient on the hook, they used a tactic called “doctor chase” to track down that person’s primary care doctor.

Non-medical staff at the marketing companies screened patients and declared them “qualified” for testing. Then they pressured doctors into signing off on test orders for patients the doctors had never even examined.

Fake invoices disguised the kickback payments

Gray hid the kickback money behind fake contracts and phony invoices.

The invoices listed charges for “marketing” hours, but prosecutors said the amounts were reverse-engineered to match per-sample kickback payments. Gray also labeled some payments as “software” costs.

Others showed up as loans that never existed.

The Department of Justice said the sham paperwork was designed to make illegal payments look like normal business expenses.

Text messages revealed what Gray knew

Prosecutors showed the jury text messages between Gray and a co-conspirator. The messages showed both of them celebrating the money flowing in from Medicare.

The co-conspirator has not been publicly named.

Prosecutors used the texts to prove Gray understood exactly how much illegal money the scheme was pulling in, and that he was excited about it.

Gray spent fraudulent money on luxury vehicles

Gray funneled some of the stolen Medicare money into big purchases.

He bought a Dodge Ram truck worth more than $142,000 and a Mercedes-Benz SUV worth more than $145,000. Those purchases formed the basis of his money laundering charges.

Between the kickback scheme and the spending spree, prosecutors built a case that followed the money from Medicare’s coffers to Gray’s driveway.

Each count carries up to 10 years

The jury found Gray guilty of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive health care kickbacks.

He also faced five counts of violating the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and three counts of money laundering. That adds up to nine federal charges, and each one carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

A federal judge will set the sentencing date. No date has been announced yet.

Four federal agencies built the case

This was not a one-agency investigation. The FBI’s Dallas Field Office helped lead the effort, alongside the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.

The Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit also played a role, as did the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General.

Trial attorneys from the DOJ Criminal Division’s Fraud Section handled the prosecution.

Genetic testing fraud hits record levels

Gray’s case is part of a much bigger problem. In the 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, the DOJ charged 49 defendants for more than $1.17 billion in genetic testing and telemedicine fraud alone.

That takedown was the largest in DOJ history, with 324 defendants charged for more than $14.6 billion in total health care fraud.

A January 2026 report found genetic testing now makes up about 43% of all Medicare Part B lab spending, and that spending rose roughly 20% from 2023 to 2024.

Scammers target seniors almost everywhere

If you are on Medicare, watch out. Scammers approach people at health fairs, senior centers, parking lots, farmers’ markets, and through cold calls. They offer “free” genetic testing and ask for your Medicare number.

But Medicare only covers genetic testing in limited cases, and only when your own doctor orders it. If Medicare denies a fraudulent claim, you could owe the full cost, often around $10,000.

Never give your Medicare number to anyone except your doctor’s office.

The DOJ says more crackdowns are coming

Gray’s conviction signals that the DOJ treats genetic testing fraud as a top priority.

The Health Care Fraud Strike Force has charged more than 6,200 defendants since 2007 for schemes totaling over $45 billion.

The government is also building a Health Care Fraud Data Fusion Center that uses AI and data tools to catch fraud faster.

If you spot unfamiliar charges on your Medicare Summary Notice, especially for “gene analysis” or “molecular pathology,” report them to the HHS OIG Hotline at 1-800-HHS-TIPS.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

Read more from this brand:

• Fraud is surging in government health programs and watchdogs are sounding the alarm
• Nevada fires off a $2.1 billion refund request to Washington after tariff ruling
• U.S. nearly doubles guest worker visas for 2026 — labor groups warn potential wage drop for Americans