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WEST CHESTER — The jury has returned its verdict, the judge has issued his sentence, but the case against Clifford Hall is far from over.
Hall is among a number of former employees of Freedom Medical, a $20 million medical equipment sales and rental firm with headquarters in Uwchlan, who the firm's founders and owners have accused of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of its equipment. A phone call is all it took, according to court records. Hall would call one of his former colleagues at Freedom and ask if a certain piece of equipment was available. The Freedom worker — who coincidentally worked at Hall's new firm in Delaware County — would then deliver it to Hall's office and get a check in return. After stealing the items, Hall and the other conspirators would then rent the equipment to various entities as part of their own companies, court documents indicate. The loss of the equipment and the firm's inability to meet customer demands because of the thefts sent the Freedom Medical spiraling toward bankruptcy. Although Freedom Medical has recovered and some of those who helped Hall with the thefts have pleaded guilty to the conspiracy, the firm's owners are seeking recompense for the scheme. A multi-million dollar lawsuit against Hall and several others, including his wife, has been filed in U.S. District Court, charging that he and the other former Freedom employees were racketeers bent on crippling the firm. Hall was found guilty in Chester County Common Pleas Court on May 12 after a six-day trial on more than 300 counts of theft, receiving stolen property and conspiracy. Three of the men who helped him get the equipment from Freedom Medical cooperated with the prosecution and testified against him; they have either been sentenced to probation or are awaiting sentencing. On Tuesday, Judge Howard F. Riley Jr. sentenced Hall, 52, of Pedricktown, N.J., to 18 to 36 months in a state correctional facility. Hall, who was represented by West Chester attorney Robert J. Donatoni, was allowed to remain free on $50,000 bail pending an appeal. Ronald Yen, the county deputy district attorney who prosecuted the case against Hall and his co-conspirators, said he found Riley's sentence fair. "I would say the victim, Freedom Medical, is pleased with it," Yen said on Friday. "They are satisfied that this is a just resolution to the situation with Mr. Hall. I'd be pleased as well." But Frank Gwynn, co-owner of Freedom Medical, also told Riley the thefts had a severe impact not only on his firm but also on his employees. At the sentencing hearing for Hall, Gwynn said he had been forced to lay off several workers because of the financial bind the company found itself in the aftermath of Hall's thefts. "It didn't just affect myself and my partners," Gwynn said. Gwynn and his co-owners have filed a suit in federal court charging that Hall's thefts were just a small part of a conspiracy by a former executive at Freedom Medical who set Hall up in business and came up with the scheme to steal equipment from Freedom. The executive, Thomas Gillespie of West Goshen, could not be reached for comment. He has not been charged criminally in the matter and is fighting the civil charges against him. The suit asks for up to $6 million in damages that Gwynn and his partners say they are owed because of the thefts. According to the arrest warrant signed by then-Detective Chuck Crawford of Uwchlan police, Gwynn reported equipment missing from the Exton office of his firm in May 2006. Gwynn told Crawford two pieces of equipment — pulmonetic ventilators worth $10,000 each — had been traced to Hall and his new firm, Signature Medical. Hall had worked at Freedom Medical from October 2000 to June 2001. Gwynn later told police he and his partner, Dom Greco, had met with Hall at a Friendly's Restaurant on May 18, 2006, and that Hall told them he knew who was taking equipment from the company, and that he had about 20 pieces of Freedom's equipment. He asked whether they would decline to prosecute him if he helped them apprehend the thieves, the affidavit states. The following day, Crawford went to the offices of Signature Medical in Lower Chichester and served Hall with a search warrant looking for 76 pieces of Freedom's equipment. After talking with his attorney, Hall acknowledged he had at least eight pieces of Freedom's equipment in his inventory. Hall said he had taken the equipment from three men who were Freedom employees at the time — Martin Crouch, Omar Hunt and Jason Ragazzo. "He said that initially he did not think any of the medical equipment was stolen, but near the end he began to think so," Crawford states in his complaint. But in interviews with Crouch and Hunt, Crawford said he learned more of the extent to which Hall knew of the way the equipment came to him. In a June 2006 interview, Crawford said Crouch, 35, of West Chester, told him that starting around January 2005, while he was working at Freedom Medical and also for Signature Medical, Hall would contact him with a "hot list" of items he wanted from Freedom's stock. Crouch said he would get the items and bring them to Hall at Signature's offices, where he was paid by business check for the equipment. Over a period of several months in 2005, Crouch got about $5,800 from Signature Medical. "Crouch said that Hall was fully aware that the items came from Freedom Medical because Hall wanted the Freedom Medical labels taken off the items," Crawford states in he criminal complaint. On the same day, Hunt told Crawford said he had overheard Hall say he needed equipment for his business. Hunt said because he had access to those items at Freedom, he would call Hall and tell him what equipment he could deliver. He said he would sell those items to Hall the same day, including pumps worth $300 a piece and ventilators worth $800 a piece. Hall was arrested on Oct. 31, 2006, and charged with hundreds of counts of theft, conspiracy, receiving stolen property and related charges. Crouch has been sentenced to three years probation and ordered to pay $27,300 to Freedom. Hunt and Ragazzo are awaiting sentencing. Riley, in his sentence, also ordered Hall to serve seven years probation after the completion of his prison term. He must also repay $94,000 for items not recovered in the investigation.  Add as favourites (206) |  Quote this article on your site | Views: 6186
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