By Jay Weaver

Jurors Thursday delivered a stunning blow to federal prosecutors who had accused executives of a Miami company and a local doctor of running “fake” clinical drug trials.

After nine days of deliberation, jurors acquitted the main defendant, Hialeah physician Martin Valdes, of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering charges and only found him guilty of a minor false statement count.

The 12-person jury also acquitted Fidalgis Font, 55, chief executive officer of Tellus Clinical Research, where the drug trials were conducted, and Julio Lopez, 55, a Tellus study coordinator.

There already had been a string of guilty pleas in the case long before the trial in Miami federal court. Another Tellus study coordinator, Duniel Tejeda, 36, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in 2021 and was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison. In addition, four other Tellus employees, including physician Eduardo Navarro who worked with Valdes, also pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme and are serving similar prison sentences.

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article275579586.html