Owner of Counterfeit Drug Importer Medical Device King Sentenced to 5 Years in Jail
Update: On December 13, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated William Scully's conviction because a lower court "declined to allow Scully to introduce evidence at his 2015 trial showing he sought legal advice about importing drugs with foreign labels from one of his lawyers." Ultimately Scully pleaded guilty to one charge of introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce, and received a sentence of 32 months. An August 17, 2016 forfeiture order of $889,875 remained the same.
On June 2, 2016, William Scully, owner and operator of Medical Device King/Pharmalogical was sentenced to 5 years in prison and ordered to pay over $900,000 in fines after he was convicted of 64 felonies for mail and wire fraud, violations of the Food Drug & Cosmetic Act (FDCA), unlicensed wholesale distribution of prescription drugs, and multiple related conspiracy charges.
Scully was the owner of Medical Device King, Pharmalogical and Taranis, which collectively sold over $17 million in pharmaceuticals. Scully bought the drugs from overseas wholesalers in Turkey, United Arab Emirates, India and other countries. The unapproved prescription drugs were sent with shipping labels stating that they were “product samples” with “no commercial value.” Scully advertised FDA-approved products on his website but shipped misbranded and unapproved drugs instead. Several doctors and health care professionals testified at trial that Scully deceived them into believing that the drugs they were purchasing were FDA-approved and legal.
Who: Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigation, New York Field Office .
When: June 2, 2016, February 2009 – July 2013.
Where: Great Neck, New York .
How: Investigation by Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigation, New York Field Office
Additional details: Scully continued to sell misbranded drugs well after FDA agents searched his office and seized fake product. He concealed his continued misbranded drug sales by covertly setting up a new company called Taranis, which he operated out of a storage space where he kept the drugs. Even after that storage space was searched and additional products were seized, Scully continued selling products to unsuspecting doctors. Ultimately, the drugs he sold were infused into patients, including cancer patients and patients with Crohn’s disease
Related sources:
"President Of Pharmaceutical Companies Sentenced To 60 Months In Prison For Long-Running Scheme To Sell Misbranded And Unapproved Chemotherapy And Other Prescription Drugs,"
DOJ, June 2, 2016
"Federal jury convicts Commack man of distributing unapproved drugs, officials sayls,"
Newsday, November 17, 2015
" William Scully Verdict Sheet," United States District Court, Eastern District of New York, November 12, 2015
"William Scully Superseding indictment,"United States District Court, Eastern District of New York, November 22, 2015
"Two Officers Of Long Island Based Company Indicted For Sale Of $17 Million Worth Of Misbranded Prescription Drugs Including Counterfeit Cancer Drugs," DOJ, April 30, 2014
"Turkish Drug Exporter Ozay Draws U.S. Scrutiny," Wall Street Journal, April 7, 2014
"Letters to Doctors about Suspect Prescription Drugs Distributed by Medical Device King," FDA, June 27, 2013
" FDA List of doctors contacted about doing business with Medical Device King," FDA, May 13, 2013