Former Primary Health Network Facilities Manager Sentenced to 2.5 Years in Prison for Role in Defrauding Non-Profit Medical Organization

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - A former facilities manager for Primary Health Network (PHN), a non-profit medical organization headquartered in Sharon, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 30 months in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release, for conspiring to commit wire fraud and money laundering and for filing a false tax return, United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.

United States District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan imposed the sentence on Mark Marriott, 59, of Sharpsville, Pennsylvania.

Two of Marriott's co-conspirators, PHN's former CEOs Drew Pierce and Jack Laeng, were both sentenced in April 2026, with Pierce sentenced to 40 months of imprisonment and Laeng to 24 months of imprisonment (read the news release on those sentencings here).

"This prosecution reflects the unfortunate reality of executives abusing their positions of power to commit fraud on a non-profit organization," said United States Attorney Rivetti. "The sentences here appropriately reflect the serious nature of the defendants' offenses, and the extensive harm that results from this fraud. Our office and our law enforcement partners will continue to investigate and prosecute these important cases."

"These crimes are not victimless, and this was not a mistake or a lapse in judgment," said FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Richard Evanchec. "This FBI and our partners will continue to uncover and prosecute those who think they can hide calculated fraud schemes under the guise of contracts, middlemen, and paperwork. After years of deception and millions of dollars stolen, these individuals are now being held accountable for their crimes."

"IRS-CI and our federal law enforcement partners will aggressively pursue individuals who scheme to defraud healthcare institutions and ultimately victimize the people those institutions serve," said Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Philadelphia Field Office Special Agent in Charge Yury Kruty. "Today's sentence, along with the sentences previously handed down in this case, show that those who commit such offenses will be held to account."

According to information presented to the Court, Marriott engaged in three schemes to defraud PHN. First, Marriott conspired with Pierce, Laeng, and others in a scheme in which they inserted a company called TopCoat between PHN and the company's legitimate vendors. PHN paid TopCoat, which provided no services other than to pay the true vendors a lesser price. PHN's board of directors was unaware that TopCoat performed no actual work and was made up entirely of PHN insiders. The TopCoat scheme caused a loss to PHN of more than $500,000. Second, Marriott engaged in a scheme in which he directed a PHN vendor to provide inflated invoices to PHN in order to fund kickback payments made to Marriott, Pierce, and a company Marriott owned with Pierce. Third, Marriott and Pierce used PHN funds to pay for their own personal expenses. Additionally, Marriott failed to report some of the proceeds of the schemes on his federal income tax returns.

Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Ranjan stated that Marriott played a critical part and active role in the schemes to defraud PHN, and noted the needs for just punishment and general deterrence in his sentencing.

Assistant United States Attorneys William B. Guappone and Jeffrey R. Bengel prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney Rivetti commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Marriott.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars. Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.