Jun. 26—A St. Joseph man was sentenced to more than 17 years in federal prison Wednesday for his role in an $8 million wire fraud conspiracy involving a Christian health care sharing ministry.

Craig Anthony Reynolds, 62, will serve 17 years and six months without parole and was ordered to pay more than $300,000 in restitution. The court also ordered Reynolds to forfeit to the government $462,771, which includes proceeds from the sale of a St. Joseph residence, cash representing his interest in another St. Joseph residence, the values of a Lincoln Navigator, and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle which will all be sold, and the contents of several bank accounts.

Reynolds incorporated and ran Medical Cost Sharing, a tax-exempt organization, as its president and chief executive officer from 2014 through December 2022. He pleaded guilty late last year to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of making false statements on a tax return.

In a separate but related case, co-defendant James L. McGinnis, 77, of St. Joseph, pleaded guilty on April 2 to the same charges and awaits sentencing. McGinnis co-founded Medical Cost Sharing and served as its chief operating officer.

Both men admitted they and their co-conspirators used false promises to market Medical Cost Sharing as a “Health Care Sharing Ministry” to defraud hundreds of members. They collected more than $8 million from members but only paid 3.1% in claims so they could take most of the contributions for themselves.

Reynolds and McGinnis pocketed at least $5,168,268 from the member contributions from December 2015 through December 2022. Medical Cost Sharing paid no claims at all for almost two years, from Feb. 22, 2021, through December 2022, although it collected nearly $1.2 million during that time.

Reynolds also admitted that he filed a return that claimed he had no taxable income in 2019 when he actually received at least $354,292. According to court documents, Reynolds filed false federal and state tax returns in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Reynolds also defrauded the U.S. Treasury by applying for COVID tax credits using false information.

Reynolds was taken into custody to immediately begin serving his sentence.

Those who believe they are victims of this fraud and wish to receive restitution for losses suffered may provide their information through the MCS Victim Information Page at www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/victim-services/seeking-victim-information/mcs-victim-information-page