A former Orange County resident was sentenced Thursday to seven years behind bars for soliciting and receiving nearly $500,000 in illegal kickbacks from corrupt sober living homes in exchange for finding them new patients in a process known as “body brokering” and for firearms trafficking.
Darius Moore, 31, formerly of Santa Ana but most recently of North Carolina, was sentenced in L.A. federal court, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Moore pleaded guilty in November 2021 to one count of conspiracy to pay or receive illegal remunerations for referrals to clinical treatment facilities and one count of soliciting or receiving illegal remunerations for referrals to clinical treatment facilities.
In 2020, Moore conspired with addiction treatment facility owners to broker patients to the facilities for drug addiction treatment services. Moore knew the facilities would bill the referred patients’ private health insurance plans for the treatment services and then pay Moore a share of the resulting insurance proceeds as kickback payments.
While operating as a body broker, Moore was paid nearly $500,000 in kickbacks from the facilities. While free on bond, Moore violated his pretrial release conditions, including by selling two firearms and a drum magazine to buyers, federal prosecutors said.
In September 2023, a grand jury in the Western District of North Carolina charged him with one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. After the North Carolina federal case was transferred to Los Angeles, Moore pleaded guilty in February to that count.