NCFE CEO Sentenced to 10 years for Bribery, Obstruction of Justice

The former chief executive of National Century Financial Enterprises was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison, but not for alleged crimes that led to the downfall of the company that financed health care providers.

Lance K. Poulsen was sentenced for his conviction on witness tampering and obstruction of justice. U.S. District Court Judge Algenon L. Marbley also fined Poulsen $17,500. Poulsen’s trial on fraud charges connected to the NCFE’s demise is scheduled for trial Oct. 1.

Federal jurors found Poulsen and his friend Karl A. Demmler guilty last March of trying to bribe the government’s key witness in the case against Poulsen.

Demmler’s sentencing was delayed after his attorney, who says Demmler is becoming mentally unstable, was granted a continuance for a psychological report.

Poulsen co-founded NCFE in 1991. He was president, chairman, chief executive officer and an owner of the Dublin, Ohio-based company that once billed itself one of the largest healthcare finance companies in the United State. When it filed bankruptcy in November 2002, hundreds of NCFE employees lost their jobs and more than 275 health care providers folded.

Four other former NCFE executives also were sentenced last week for their roles in NCFE’s demise.  Donald H. Ayers received 15 years in prison; Ronald H. Speer was sentenced to 12 years; Roger Faulkenberry, received 10 years, and James E. Dierker Jr., received five years in prison (“Two NCFE Executives Get More than 10 Years in Prison, More Executives Face Sentencing Today,” Aug. 7).

A sixth defendant, Rebecca S. Parrett, was also scheduled to be sentenced last week but she fled after she was convicted and is currently the subject of a national search.