BATON ROUGE - The son of a Baton Rouge philanthropist must report to federal prison by Aug. 14 to begin serving an 18-month prison term for health care fraud. After his release from custody, he will be on supervised release for two years.

Christopher Blackstone, 46, is the son of Paula Pennington de la Bretonne. He pleaded guilty in February 2021 to a single count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Federal prosecutors say Blackstone owned Slidell-based Prime Pharmacy Solutions, which specialized in compounded medications paid for by the Tricare health benefit program for U.S. military personnel and their families.

The government said Blackstone and others would select medication formulas based not on their effectiveness, but on which would generate the highest reimbursements from Tricare and other benefit programs. Prime generated pre-printed prescription forms to encourage doctors to promote the more-expensive treatments, the prosecutors said.

District Judge Lance M. Africk sentenced Blackstone last Thursday in federal court in New Orleans. He recommended that Blackstone serve his time at a facility in the Pensacola, Fla., area.