Southeast Montana News

A researcher at the University of Montana admitted on June 27 to charges of falsifying documents in a federal investigation, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich announced today.

The defendant, Braxton Alan Norwood, 43, of Marburg, Germany, pleaded guilty to a superseding information charging him with falsification of records in a federal investigation. Norwood faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and at least three years of supervised release.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto presided over the case. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing is set for October 30. Norwood was released pending further proceedings.

In a plea agreement filed in the case, both parties agreed that Norwood is responsible for complete restitution amounting to $165,446. If the court accepts the plea agreement at sentencing, the government will move to dismiss the indictment.

Court documents revealed that Norwood was owner and CEO of Expesicor LLC, which conducted neurological disorder research at the University of Montana in Missoula. Expesicor received federal grant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Norwood was designated as principal investigator for federal research grants awarded to Expesicor.

Between 2019 and 2021, Expesicor received $515,163 in federal grant funding from NIH. According to allegations, Norwood used Lab Surplus to purchase items on behalf of Expesicor but suspicions arose over his claimed purchases leading to an investigation by federal agencies. During this investigation, Norwood knowingly provided materially false information to case agents.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting this case with investigations conducted by the FBI and HHS Office of Inspector General.