Union TV analyst Peter Pappas pleads guilty to health care fraud

Peter Pappas, the Union's television color analyst, pleaded guilty Tuesday to receiving nearly $500,000 in kickbacks for filling unneeded prescriptions for himself and recruiting others to the scheme.

In addition to his television duties, Pappas works as a pharmaceutical salesman. The Drexel Hill resident's now-deleted LinkedIn page said he is a district sales manager for the New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company Celgene. On his Twitter account, which also has been deleted, Pappas described himself as a "Canadian former soccer pro turned Rx slinger."

The Union terminated Pappas' contract with the team Tuesday night. He and the rest of the on-air talent are paid by the team, which was not aware of Pappas' dealings until news broke of his guilty plea.

Pappas pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health fraud in federal court in Newark, N.J. He admitted he was recruited by a marketing company that was paid by pharmacies to refer people whose insurance paid for compounded medication including pain creams, scar creams, and vitamins.

Along the way, Pappas recruited others to join the scheme, including people using a health benefit program for service members and their families managed by the U.S. Department of Defense. He admitted that he attempted to recruit beneficiaries from Tricare because they gave high reimbursements for compounded medication and cream, federal prosecutors said.

Federal prosecutors said that while Pappas received $481,773 from the marketing company, his employer, Tricare, and other insurance companies lost at least $3.69 million. He faces up to 10 years in prisonw and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced on Oct. 25.

Pappas joined the Union's announcing crew in 2012. He started as the radio color analyst, then began working on the TV side during the 2013 season.

A native of Toronto, Pappas attended Roxborough High School for a time, then Philadelphia University. He went on to play for 13 years as a goalkeeper with the now-defunct Kixx, a professional indoor soccer team that played at the Spectrum.

This article contains information from the Associated Press.