Blood test samples/photo by Ingus Bajars

A federal appeals court has rejected a doctor's bid to overturn his conviction for taking payouts from a laboratory to set up a blood draw station in his office.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Tuesday denied Dr. Thomas Savino's appeal of his conviction and sentence of four years in prison.

According to Third Circuit Judge Thomas Hardiman's opinion, Savino, whose practice was based in Staten Island, New York, accepted monthly cash payments from Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services, a blood laboratory that was headquartered in Parsippany but is now reportedly defunct.

Savino entered into a deal with Cliff Antell, a Biodiagnostic recruiter, to allow the company to set up a blood draw area in the rear suite of his solo medical practice, Hardiman said.

In 2013, Antell began cooperating with the FBI following an investigation of Biodiagnostic, and wore a wire while discussing a deal with Savino to replace the current arrangement, the decision said.

Savino was subsequently indicted on 10 counts, including conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute, and convicted on all of them. The court below rejected his motion for a more lenient sentence based on family ties and responsibilities.

On appeal to the Third Circuit, Savino argued that the government failed to show sufficient evidence that he took bribes. He claimed he thought the cash payments from Biodiagnostic were rent.

"Savino allowed BLS to operate a laboratory in his office space without a written agreement in return for cash payments. The lab had no public entrance—patients could access the area where blood was drawn only through Savino's office," Hardiman said. "In the conversation Antell recorded, Savino haggled over the payment scheme with a new potential lab, explaining he had 'good volume' and could send them certain urine testing 'that pays tremendously well.'  He accepted a cash payment of $1,500 ostensibly from the new lab and offered to split monthly cash payments with Antell if he got the company to do urine testing.

"These facts more than suffice to sustain a jury verdict, which must be upheld as long as it does not 'fall below the threshold of bare rationality,'" Hardiman wrote.

Savino also argued that New Jersey commercial bribery statute and Travel Act charges should be dismissed as void for vagueness. He claimed that the prosecution failed to show that a fiduciary relationship existed between him and Biodiagnostic. However, the court found Savino's argument unpersuasive.

Lastly, Savino argued that the sentence should be vacated because the trial court failed to take into account his "positive qualities," or recognize a sentencing disparity between his case and other doctors in the same Biodiagnostic scheme.

"At sentencing, the Court distinguished Savino from those defendants (who had lower guidelines ranges and received downward departures for cooperation) and explicitly compared Savino to [one defendant doctor] (who received leniency because of his age)," Hardiman said. "So the Court gave meaningful consideration to sentencing disparities."

He added, "Savino contends his 48-month sentence is substantively unreasonable because the court failed to account for his positive traits, including his service to his community as a physician. But the record again contradicts this claim. The court considered Savino's arguments for mitigation, including the letters and videos from patients supporting him and his filial obligation to his elderly mother."

The sentence was reasonable, Hardiman said.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey declined to comment.

Eric Breslin of Duane Morris in Newark represents Savino and also declined to comment.