In 2009, disbarred Lexington attorney William Gallion was found guilty of defrauding hundreds of his clients of the tens of millions of dollars they were owed in the settlement of a lawsuit over the diet drug fen-phen., which was withdrawn from the market due to possible damage to heart valves.
At his sentencing, a federal judge said Gallion and his partner Shirley Cunningham — who together were also the original owners of two-time Horse of the Year and 2007 Preakness winner Curlin — had shown “unbridled greed” and not “an ounce of remorse.” for their actions.
Now outgoing President Joe Biden has granted clemency to Gallion, who served a 25-year prison sentence.
Gallion, who was 58 when he was convicted, is among nearly 1,500 people whose sentences were commuted by Biden in December. The Biden administration said those pardoned had already been under home confinement since the COVID-19 pandemic and “have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities.”
Cincinnati attorney Louis Sirkin, who previously represented Gallion, told The Courier Journal he was pleased his ex-client was pardoned, but said he had not spoken to him in nearly a decade. An email to another attorney listed in the lawsuits as an attorney for Gallion was not immediately returned.
Miracle drug gone wrong
At the height of its popularity in the 1990s, fen-phen was considered a miracle drug for its ability to reduce obesity.
But in 1997 the drug was taken off the market after it was linked to heart problems.
Gallion and Cunningham filed suit against the drug makers, who settled the case for $200 million in 2001.
However, the couple was convicted of wrongfully withholding $94 million of that settlement from 440 plaintiffs. Prosecutors said the pair purposefully did not tell their clients the total amount of the settlement and told them they could face jail time if they told others the amount of their individual settlements.
Gallion and Cunningham also used $20 million from the settlement to establish a trust fund: the Kentucky Fund for Healthy Living. They installed themselves as directors of that trust at a salary of $5,300 per month.
“These defendants were caught with their hand in the cookie jar,” federal prosecutor EJ Walbourn said during the trial. “At the heart of the prosecution in the United States are the misrepresentations, false truths and outright deception by both defendants.”
‘Spit against the law’
Prior to their conviction in 2009, dozens of victims sent letters to the court, according to reporting by The Courier Journal at the time.
“I feel like these lawyers have taken more from me than the drug ever did. My body is spent. By not getting the full settlement I was entitled to, I feel like I lost the treatment I could have received if I had been able to see the best doctors. My life will never be the same,” said a 2009 Courier Journal report.
‘We have suffered enough. Now it’s their turn,” wrote another.
Cunningham was sentenced to twenty years in prison. He has been out of custody as of March of this year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prison’s online federal inmate locator.
Federal prosecutors pushed for a sentence of 35 years for Gallion and 30 years for Cunningham, saying the pair “spitted in violation of the law.”
Gallion and Cunningham were the original owners of the thoroughbred Curlin, who won Horse of the Year in 2007 and 2008.
In 2007, Curlin won the Preakness, finished second in the Belmont Stakes and was third in the Kentucky Derby.
The lawyers sold the controlling interest in the horse in February that year, but retained a 20% interest through the Triple Crown racing.
Their involvement with Curlin brought national and international attention to the fraud case, which made headlines throughout Kentucky.
Reach reporter Josh Wood at jwood@courier-journal.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @JWoodJourno.
This article originally appeared in the Louisville Courier Journal: Biden clemency fen-phen scam by Kentucky lawyer
