Part-time actor sentenced to prison for bogus COVID-19 cure

LOS ANGELES — A part-time actor was sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison Monday for soliciting investors in companies that prosecutors said marketed a bogus cure and treatment for COVID-19.

Keith Lawrence Middlebrook, 57, was convicted in May of 11 counts of wire fraud. Ahead of sentencing Monday morning, Middlebrook told the L.A. Times that he was “innocent completely” and that “this is going to be appealed.”

Middlebrook made similar comments to the judge during the hearing in federal court in Los Angeles, stating that he had consulted with seven attorneys and eight doctors “from the very beginning, for a product of this magnitude.”

“It is clear that Mr. Middlebrook still denies that he has committed any crime, which causes significant concern that he will continue to commit similar crimes in the future,” U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer said before handing down her sentence.

A major point of contention during the sentencing hearing centered around Middlebrook’s alleged relationship with former Lakers point guard Magic Johnson.

Middlebrook had claimed that Johnson was a director and officer of one of his companies, according to the goverment’s sentencing memo.

At trial, Johnson, who was recently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, testified that he had never supported, invested in, or been an officer or a member of the board of directors of Middlebrook’s company, according to the government’s memo. He also testified that he did not know Middlebrook and had never committed to working with him.

Prosecutors asked the judge for a stiffer sentence, stating in their memo that Middlebrook had perjured himself when he testified on the stand that he had met Johnson more than a hundred times and had extensive conversations with him about the “fake cure and prevention pill.”

Fischer agreed, stating that “it is inconceivable that [Johnson] would have forgotten that Mr. Middlebrook approached him about investing in a vaccine.”

The judge also denied defense motions for a judgment of acquittal and for a new trial.

“Magic Johnson is the biggest liar I’ve ever seen and we’ll prove it,” Middlebrook’s attorney, Andrew Stein, said after the hearing. “I believe Magic lied under oath to protect himself from being involved with this.”

During the hearing, Assistant U.S. Atty. Kenneth R. Carbajal said Johnson “testified truthfully, credibly.”

Magic Johnson Enterprises did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to prosecutors, in the early days of the pandemic, Middlebrook — who has minor roles listed on IMDb, including in the movie “Iron Man 2” — claimed to have personally developed a “patent-pending” cure and a treatment to prevent coronavirus infection.

The FBI arrested Middlebrook in March 2020, after he delivered pills —supposedly the infection prevention treatment — to an undercover agent who was posing as an investor, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in L.A.

Stein, who was hired after the trial, said a Stanford doctor had testified that Middlebrook’s compound worked.

“I do not know how the jury convicted him,” Stein said. “We’re going to go out and we’re going to prove that Magic Johnson is a liar.”

Middlebrook, who had remained free on a $150,000 bond, was remanded into custody shortly after the judge sentenced him to prison and three years of supervised release.

Fischer also fined Middlebrook $25,000.