Missouri Man Sentenced for Selling Thousands of Fake Pills
A St. Louis, Missouri resident, Mark Hughes, 47, was sentenced to four years in prison by U.S. District Court on February 7th, 2011, after pleading guilty to selling thousands of counterfeit erectile dysfunction pills.
Who: U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
When: February 7, 2011; counterfeit drugs sold by Mr. Hughes from 2006 through 2009
Where: Saint Louis, Missouri, USA.
How: Illegal shipment intercepted by US Customs agents in 2009
Mr. Hughes purchased bulk counterfeit versions of erectile disfunction drugs online from China and India, subsequently selling them both via his illegal and unlicensed pharmacy and via word of mouth, said Assistant U.S. Attorney John Bodenhausen in court, reported the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Hughes' last shipment of 1,000 pills was intercepted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in 2009 and delivered to investigators. After a search of Hughes' residence was conducted, he admitted buying approximately 11,000 pills and selling them for $5 a piece, roughly one-third of the wholesale price of the legitimate medication, reported the Associated Press.
The counterfeit drugs Hughes was selling were tested for authenticity. Some contained none of the actual drug and some contained insufficient doses of the drug, well below the advertised prescription, said Attorney Bodenhausen in court.
Related sources:
"Fake Impotence Drugs Mean Prison for St. Louis County Man,"St. Louis Post-Dispatch. October 18, 2010.
"St. Louis Man Sentenced for Selling Fake Viagra," KPLR11-St. Louis. February 9th, 2010.