Ex-Biopure Exec Pleads Guilty To Faking Cancer

By DENISE LAVOIE

BOSTON (AP) — A former executive of Biopure Corp. pleaded guilty Wednesday to an obstruction of justice charge for pretending he had terminal cancer and admitted he had impersonated his own doctor to dodge a federal lawsuit filed by securities regulators.

Howard Richman, a former vice president at Biopure, admitted he had instructed his lawyers to tell a judge he was gravely ill with colon cancer. He also admitted to posing as his doctor in a phone call with his lawyer so that she would tell the judge that his cancer had spread and that he was undergoing chemotherapy.

Richman, 57, declined to comment to reporters after changing his plea to guilty in U.S. District Court. But during the hearing, he admitted to committing the acts prosecutors alleged — that he had lied from October 2006 through July 2007 when he repeatedly caused his lawyers to say he had cancer.

"I am changing my plea from not guilty to guilty for the crime I committed," he said. He had pleaded not guilty in October.

Richmond faces up to 10 years in prison at sentencing, scheduled for June 10.