PHN theft defendant scheduled for hearing Wednesday

Eric Poole, The Herald, Sharon, Pa.
·2 min read

Feb. 12—PITTSBURGH — One of the five defendants accused of conspiring to steal more than $2 million from Primary Health Network is scheduled for a change-of-plea hearing Wednesday in federal court.

Christopher O'Brien of Masury, Ohio, is to appear before federal Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday for the hearing in Western District of Pennsylvania federal court in Pittsburgh, according to federal court online records.

O'Brien is accused of participating in a conspiracy to defraud Primary Health Network between 2011 and 2019. Also accused are Drew Pierce of West Middlesex, Mark Marriott of Sharpsville, John "Jack" Laeng of West Middlesex and John O'Brien of Masury.

All of the remaining defendants are scheduled for pretrial motions on or following April 15.

Pierce was Primary Health Network's chief financial officer from 2011 to 2014, and chief executive officer from 2014 until 2020. Laeng was Primary Health Network's CEO from 2011 to 2014, an employee of the organization through 2016, and a board member of the network's PHN Charitable Foundation into 2020.

Marriott was Primary Health Network's facilities administrator until 2020.

The five were charged May 9, 2023, with conspiracy to commit mail/wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and mail/wire fraud.

Federal prosecutors accused the men of creating non-existent companies that received payments from Primary Health Network for services never performed.

On Jan. 29, 2020, federal agents, bearing subpoenas and warrants, raided the headquarters of Primary Health Network and its affiliated charitable arm, PHN Charitable Foundation, both located in Sharon.

While Primary Health officials and federal authorities did not comment at the time, Pierce and Marriott were relieved of their positions with PHN and Laeng left the charitable foundation's board.

The Sharon-based non-profit Primary Health Network is a federally qualified health center, an agency designated by the U.S. government to provide health care services to people who would otherwise not have access, either for geographic or economic factors.

It operates health centers in 16 Pennsylvania counties — including Mercer, Butler, Cambria, Crawford, Erie, Lawrence, Northumberland and Venango — and Ashtabula County in Ohio. The agency is a community health care provider that serves unserved and underserved communities.