PITTSBURGH - A key figure in a years-long scheme that allegedly drained nearly $2 million from a regional non-profit healthcare provider is scheduled to appear in federal court Friday to change his plea.

Drew Pierce, a former top executive for Primary Health Network, is slated for a change of plea hearing before U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan in Pittsburgh.

The hearing, set for 1:30 p.m., marks a turn in a complex case that prosecutors say involved a sophisticated pattern of fraud spanning almost a decade.

Pierce, of West Middlesex, was one of five individuals charged in connection with the alleged scheme to defraud Primary Health Network, or PHN, which serves thousands of patients across Western Pennsylvania.

The alleged fraud targeted PHN, a non-profit organization dedicated

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