Two Louisiana Residents Sentenced in Fake Online Pharmacy Case
Troy Tapia and Anthony Rouse III of Louisiana have each been sentenced to three years in prison for acting as drop-shippers for a Thailand-based fake online pharmacy operation. Each man pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering. Rouse and Tapia fulfilled U.S. orders from Thai national Duangthip Chutivaraporn, the owner and operator of online pharmacy website overseas-foreign-pharmacy.com and its affiliate websites. The fake pharmacy websites offered prescription drug without requiring any diagnosis information, prescriptions, or medical history from people who placed orders. Rouse and Tapia fulfilled orders for Nubain and Fioricet and received payment for their services by means of deposits of their portion of the sale proceeds to foreign bank accounts accessible to them by debit cards.
Who: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations; the U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations; the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation.
When: January 13, 2017, June 6, 2008, to March 2, 2012.
Where: Morgan City, Louisiana.
How: Investigation by FDA-OCI, ICE, HIS, FBI, and IRS Criminal Investigations.
Additional details: The websites that Rouse and Tapia filled deliveries for deceived customers by making them believe that the their Thai pharmacy was licensed to deliver medication to anywhere in the world.
Related sources:
“Anthony Rouse Indictment and Plea Documents,” United States District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania, September 1, 2016.
“Troy Tapia Indictment and Plea Documents, ” United States District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania, September 1, 2016.
“ Two Louisiana Men Sentenced for Roles in On-line Pharmacy Scheme,” U.S. Department of Justice, January 13, 2017.
“ Louisiana Man Pleads Guilty in Online Pharmacy Fraud Scheme,” U.S. Department of Justice, September 27,2016.
“ Two La. men sentenced in internet prescription drug scheme,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 14, 2017.
“ Morgan City Man Pleads Guilty in Prescription Drug Fraud Scheme,” Franklin Banner-Tribune, October 4, 2016.