Trial delayed for Neligh pharmacist

On Monday morning, a jury trial, for Danelle Charf, 47, of Neligh, was set for Oct. 17, but that changed in the afternoon.

The deadline for pretrial motions, originally set for July 18, had been extended to Sept. 16, at the request of Charf’s attorney, Adam J. Sipple with Domina Law Group in Omaha.

Sipple failed to file his motions by the deadline. However, on Monday, after the trial date was set, he filed an unopposed motion to extend the deadline to Nov. 14. In explanation, Sipple wrote, “Counsel was attentive to the deadline and had drafted the motion in a timely manner, and had discussed it with Ms. Charf last Wednesday, then simply failed to adequately communicate with one another to achieve filing.”

United States Magistrate Judge Michael D. Nelson granted the motion, “taking into consideration due diligence of counsel, and the novelty and complexity” of the case.

Charf owns and operates CW, Inc., doing business as Wanek Pharmacy and Tilden Pharmacy. She was arraigned June 19 in US District Court of Nebraska, on a five-count indictment, charging her with healthcare fraud beginning on or about Oct. 7, 2020, and continuing through Jan. 11, 2021. She entered not guilty pleas to all five allegations.

Authorities alleged, in the May 17 indictment, “Charf would fill or cause to be filled at Wanek and Tilden pharmacies with the generic version of certain medications and then submit and cause to be submitted, claims to health care benefit programs, including Medicare and Nebraska Medicaid, seeking reimbursement for the more expensive brand-name version of the medications.”

If convicted, Charf faces potential penalties including 10 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a three-year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment for each charge.