Bay Area Adderall Counterfeiter Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison

A Brisbane, California resident has been sentenced to ten years in prison for manufacturing and distributing counterfeit Adderall, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).  Gino Carl von Eckstein, who pleaded guilty in September, was originally charged with producing fake Adderall pills with pill presses located at a house he was using in San Leandro.

The DOJ reports, “Eckstein admitted that he possessed counterfeit ‘Adderall’ pills, or pills that appeared to be Adderall, but in fact contained methamphetamine.” According to the DOJ, Eckstein maintained operations at three properties, one in Brisbane, another in the Richmond District of San Francisco, and a third in San Leandro.  Warranted searcher of the properties found counterfeit Adderall in all three residences. Eckstein also stored the fake pills in his car. In total, investigators discovered over 1,000 grams of suspected methamphetamine.

The San Francisco Examiner reports that Eckstein was found with orange pills that were impressed with ‘AD’ on one side and ‘-3|0-‘ on the other, replicating the appearance of genuine, FDA-approved 30 milligram Adderall pills.

United States Attorney Alex G. Tse warned that, “Counterfeit pharmaceuticals are a danger to the community. As this case illustrates, we are responding to the emerging threat of counterfeit pharmaceuticals in our district, particularly when the substances are laced with potentially life endangering drugs.  Those individuals who put these dangerous products in our community will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

The DOJ reports that in addition to the 10 year jail sentence, Eckstein has been sentenced to 5 years of supervised release.   

This case was the result of a collaborative investigation by the DEA, CBP, FBI, and IRS-CI, with assistance from the San Francisco Police Department.  This case was investigated and prosecuted by member agencies of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, a focused multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force investigating and prosecuting the most significant drug trafficking organizations throughout the United States by leveraging the combined expertise of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.  Assistant United States Attorney Sheila Armbrust assisted United States Attorney Alex G. Tse in prosecuting this case.