Jail sentence for former Penn scientist guilty of theft

A former cancer researcher was sentenced to a year in prison yesterday for stealing from a federally funded program while he worked at the University of Pennsylvania.

Steven W. Johnson, 50, of Elkins Park, pleaded guilty April 30 to one count of misusing federal funds for cancer research to conduct a for-profit business, RealTime Primers.  U.S. District Court Judge Paul S. Diamond also ordered Johnson to pay restitution of $69,379.02.

Johnson worked at Penn's School of Medicine from October 1998 to February 2010, doing cancer research. As part of his research, he tested or "validated" presumptive oligonucleotide "primers," which are used to identify gene expression patterns.  That process requires specialized equipment, including a polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, machine.

In August 2005, Johnson started a for-profit company, unbeknownst to his Penn bosses, that advertised human-, mouse- and rat-validated primers for sale. In 2006, Johnson applied for a federal grant from the Department of Defense to study a new way to treat ovarian cancer.  Between 2007 and 2009, he bought thousands of unvalidated oligonucleotide primers, charged them to the federal grant and used Penn laboratory equipment, including a PCR machine purchased with federal money, to validate the primers. He then sold the primers to customers of his for-profit company.

"Johnson used federal grant money, awarded for ovarian cancer research, to fund his own for-profit business. This is obviously egregious conduct," U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger wrote in his sentencing memo. "The federal government cares about extending the lives of persons suffering from ovarian cancer, not about increasing Johnson's personal income. Research funds are limited, and tax dollars are for public purposes, not private enrichment ... Moreover, the fraudulent use of tax dollars breeds public cynicism and distrust for the government."