WEST PALM BEACH — A former Florida Marlins pitcher and his brother arrived at the federal courthouse on Thursday with a $3.8 million check to reimburse dozens of insurers they defrauded in a scheme orchestrated by notorious sober house owner Kenny Chatman.

But repaying the ill-gotten gains they raked in at their Palm Beach Gardens lab was only part of the punishment 39-year-old Justin Wayne and his 40-year-old brother, Hawkeye, received.

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Justin Wayne, who was on the Marlins roster when the team won the 2003 World Series and now lives in Boca Raton, was handed a 46-month — nearly four-year — sentence by U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks.

Hawkeye Wayne, 40, a former minor league baseball player who prosecutors said was more heavily involved in the illicit operation, was ordered to spend 63 months — slightly more than five years — behind bars.

In addition, Middlebrooks ordered both brothers to pay fines — Justin Wayne’s was set at $20,000, while Hawkeye, who lives in Palm Beach Gardens, was told to turn over $50,000.

In a show of mercy and a reward for their ongoing cooperation with federal prosecutors’ efforts to bring down others who were involved in South Florida’s illicit drug treatment industry, the brothers won’t have to report to prison until March 1.

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Both are expected to testify in the upcoming trial of Dr. Arman Abovyan and Tina Marie Barbuto, both of Boca Raton, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie Villafana. Abovyan was the medical director and Barbuto was the clinical director of Reflections Treatment Center in Margate, which was owned by Chatman. The two face multiple charges of distributing high-powered narcotics, including tranquilizers and amphetamines, without any medical justification. Both deny any wrongdoing.

Defense attorney Richard Lubin said the Wayne brothers may be rewarded for their testimony. Prosecutors would have the option of asking Middlebrooks to reduce the siblings’ sentences in return for their help in bringing others to justice, said Lubin, who represents Justin.

In court Thursday, the brothers apologized for turning their budding business, Smart Labs LLC, into a tool for Chatman and a vehicle to make themselves and others rich.

Choking back tears, Hawkeye said, “I’m so sorry,” in a voice barely above a whisper.

Justin was somewhat more composed. “I sincerely apologize to your honor, the government and the insurance carriers and anyone else I have harmed and for the shame I brought to my family,” he said. “I’ll spend the rest of my days making it up to them.”

It won’t be the last time the family is summoned to court. The youngest Wayne brother, 36-year-old Ethan, also pleaded guilty to health care fraud charges in connection with his work at the lab. He will be sentenced on Dec. 6.

The three brothers along with three others admitted they accepted kickbacks and paid bribes to Chatman, who is serving a 27 ½-year sentence. The 47-year-old suburban Boynton Beach man pleaded guilty last year to charges of money laundering, sex trafficking and health care fraud as part of what Villafana described as a far-flung, lucrative and dangerous operation that preyed on addicts.

Attorneys representing the Wayne brothers insisted their participation in Chatman’s scheme was clinical, not violent. They paid money to Chatman to keep him bringing addicts’ urine to their lab for testing. The urine of drug addicts who have insurance is liquid gold to unscrupulous operator of labs, sober homes and treatment centers.

A Palm Beach Post investigation found that insurance companies were often billed as much as $5,000 for a single urine drug screen. Although insurance companies paid only a portion of that, between $1,500 and $2,000, with Chatman forcing addicts to provide urine samples three or more times a week for unnecessary testing, the profits added up fast.

As part of their case, federal prosecutors also charged the Wayne brothers’ lab with committing a crime. While Middlebrooks placed it on probation for three years, there was no real reason to do so, said attorney Ned Reagan, who represented the business. Using a skeletal staff, it is in the process of shutting down. It should be permanently shuttered by December, he said.

The criminal charges were a stark fall from grace for Justin and Hawkeye. Both gifted athletes who grew up in Hawaii, they were standout pitchers for their college teams — Justin for Stanford University and Hawkeye for Columbia University. Both were drafted into the majors.

While Hawkeye never got out of the minors, Justin was the fifth overall pick in the 2000 draft and pocketed a $2.9 million signing bonus from the former Montreal Expos, now the Washington Nationals. He flamed out while playing for the Marlins, but not before he, like everyone on the 2003 squad, received a 14-carat gold, diamond-studded World Series ring.

jmusgrave@pbpost.com

@pbpcourts