Feb. 10, 2009 — Appearing upbeat and calm before the lunch break, Rodney E. Miller Sr.'s mood changed visibly Tuesday afternoon after jurors stepped back into the courtroom and found him guilty of lying on his government job application.
It took the 12-member panel 45 minutes to come down with the verdict.
Miller, the former president and chief executive officer of Schneider Regional Medical Center, was convicted of one count of making fraudulent claims on the government. He faces as much as three years in prison for the crime, and will remain free on $75,000 bail pending sentencing, Superior Court Judge Leon H. Kendall ruled Tuesday. Since neither Miller nor his attorneys had any comment after the two-day trial wrapped up around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, it is unclear at this point whether the verdict will be appealed. But come sentencing — which should be scheduled within the next 60 days — the government is going to recommend that Miller remain in jail for more than one year, according to prosecuting attorney Denise George-Counts.
Last August, Justice officials charged that Miller tried to cover up a 1996 criminal conviction by providing false statements to the government on his employment application at SRMC, saying that he had received an "honorable or general" discharge instead of disclosing that he had actually received a bad conduct discharge from the U.S. Navy for attempted larceny, obstruction of justice and fraud (See "Former Hospital CEO Arrested on Fraud Charge.
On Monday, the judge ruled that information on Miller's previous conviction could not be introduced during trial, after Miller's defense attorney, William Glore, argued that it might be prejudicial to his client. George-Counts skirted the issue Tuesday by arguing that Miller wanted to cover up his military history so he could "sail" into the chief executive officer position at the hospital. When Miller lied on his application, he told the hospital's board that he had a "clear, unblemished record," she said.
The job application, filed at the Division of Personnel, was an important part of Miller's employee record that could have affected the board's decision to hire someone else, George-Counts added.
But the job application form wasn't clear, and it is possible Miller got confused when he was filling it out, Glore argued in his closing remarks. The form only included three discharge options: "honorable or general," "dishonorable" and "not applicable." No where in the document was there a choice for "bad conduct," he said.
While Glore argued the makeup of the application form forced Miller to "guess" the correct discharge status, Personnel Director Kenneth Hermon Jr. said on the stand Tuesday that the "average person" would know to check the box marked "not applicable" if a bad conduct discharge option was not available.
Much like Miller, all witnesses called by the prosecution were confused by the government's application form, Glore said later, repeating that only two out of a possible five discharge options were listed on the document.
But Miller was still aware of his discharge status — he was court martialed, and after that appealed the court's decision, George-Counts said later. While on the stand Tuesday, Lt. Commander Stacia Gawronski — stationed at the Navy JAG's criminal law division in Washington, D.C. — said Miller's discharge was finalized April 3, 2000. Miller was subsequently mailed the discharge documents, which were shown to the jury Tuesday.
The difference between an honorable or general discharge and a bad conduct discharge is clear: a bad conduct discharge is "given out pursuant to a court martial," while a general discharge doesn't necessarily include misconduct, Gawronski said.
But Miller had already been working at the hospital for a month before he filled out the application — if his discharge status had mattered to the hospital's board members, they would have checked into it, Glore countered in his closing remarks.
Miller had a masters and bachelors degree, years of administrative experience and had been recruited by a search firm the board had hired to find possible candidates for the position.
"The board was looking for a qualified CEO and they found him," Glore said. "There is no testimony to say that the board looked into his discharge. If it had mattered to them and if they had looked into it, you know what they would have found? They would have found the same qualified CEO they hired."
If it really wouldn't have mattered to the board, then Miller wouldn't have lied, George-Counts said later.
"Nobody's confused here," she said. "Mr. Miller wasn't confused when he checked the box — he knew what he was doing and he did it twice. That couldn't have been an inadvertent mistake."
Miller, along with two other former hospital executives and former hospital board chair June A. Adams, returns to court June 8 to stand trial on another set of charges, including embezzlement, grand larceny and conspiracy. (See "Judge Upholds Charges Against Hospital Officials Accused of Diverting Millions.")
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