Enriquez

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 23-4424 D.C. No. Plaintiff - Appellee, 2:18-cr-00375-

AB-

v.

JUAN CARLOS ENRIQUEZ,

OPINION

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California André Birotte Jr., District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted February 19, 2025 El Centro, California

Filed March 18, 2025

Before: Richard C. Tallman and John B. Owens, Circuit Judges, and Ruth Bermudez Montenegro, District Judge. *

Opinion by Judge Tallman

* The Honorable Ruth Bermudez Montenegro, United States District Judge for the Southern District of California, sitting by designation. SUMMARY **

Criminal Law

The panel affirmed the district court’s denial of Juan Carlos Enriquez’s motion to dismiss an indictment charging him with conspiracy to receive healthcare kickbacks in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 and receiving prohibited payments in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS). Enriquez—a pharmacy technician employed by his alleged co-conspirator, Irina Sadovsky—was involved in a scheme to refer Medicare…