The former CEO of a Chicago safety-net hospital arrested earlier this year for his alleged role in a multibillion-dollar embezzlement scheme has cut a pre-trial deal with prosecutors that will see his indictment dismissed for good behavior.
George Miller, who was CEO of Loretto Hospital from 2017 to 2022, was indicted in late 2024 alongside the hospital’s chief financial officer and chief transformation officer, as well as the owner of multiple vendor medical supply companies. He was accused of embezzling over $15 million from the hospital toward accounts controlled by the vendor in exchange for about $776,300, according to court documents from the indictment.
However, chaos at the office of U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros has substantially weakened the case against Miller and others. That office’s aggressive pursuit of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement reportedly led to substantial staff turnover, several dismissed cases due to an inability to secure a grand jury indictment and harsh criticisms from judges.
In particular, highly publicized criminal charges against six Immigration and Customs Enforcement protestors (referred to in media reports as the “Broadview Six”). The case evaporated as transcripts from a grand jury screening and an admission from Boutros that he had personally appeared at that screen outlined what the case’s judge described as “shocking” misconduct, and triggered a mea culpa filing from the office’s prosecutors.
The scandal has extended to other cases handled by the same prosecutors, whose work is now sits under the shadow of potential grand jury misconduct. For Miller, that’s led to a pretrial diversion agreement entered Tuesday that would see his indictment dropped in exchange for roughly $60,000 of restitution and several conditions he’s agreed to follow for a 12-month period, which include no substantial travel without approval.
“Mr. Miller, you got lucky here,” U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman said during a Tuesday telephone hearing reported on by the Chicago Tribune. “I want to make sure you understand the terms of this agreement. There’s nine of them there … you should keep a copy with you to make sure you don’t violate any of those conditions.”
The Justice Department case stemmed from a probe into Loretto Hospital’s COVID-19 vaccine distributions as well as a case involving a COVID-19 testing fraud scheme, which were overseen by some of the same prosecutors. The hospital has previously said it cooperated with federal investigations and described itself as a victim.
One of Miller’s alleged co-conspirators, former Chief Transformation Officer Heather Bergdahl, had already entered into a deferred prosecution deal in July. Former Chief Financial Officer Anosh Ahmed was abroad when the charges came down but has been held in a jail in Serbia since November and reportedly could be extradited to Chicago this month. Sameer Suhail, M.D., who owned the medical supply companies, had also been abroad but returned to the U.S. earlier this year and has pleaded not guilty, with whom prosecutors recently confirmed they are also working on a deal.
Ahmed also faces other charges in the COVID-19 testing fraud case. Another man who was charged in that case pleaded guilty earlier this month, though two other alleged co-conspirators had their charges dropped in June amid the U.S. attorney’s office scrutiny.