Federal prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Houston are investigating the girlfriends of defendants indicted in the major Texas steroid bust codenamed Operation Pharmacia Juicy Fruit according to recently filed court documents. Prosecutors have made it clear to defendant Bruce Zaccaria and his attorney that they have the goods on a former girlfriend; she was identified by first name practically as an unindicted co-conspirator. The relevance of this disclosure is unknown.
One thing that has emerged as a new known fact to the United States is the following: while the defendant was working at My Mechanic (his co-worker has been proposed as a surety by the defense and his steady work record has been offered as evidence he is stable and reliable) and during the interception of calls between the defendant and Brock Falkenhagen, the defendant ordered and even met with Falkenhagen to receive anabolic steroids… Furthermore, the defendant was directing Falkenhagen at times to drop off the anabolic steroids with his girlfriend “Carly”… Clearly, the defendant exercises a degree of control over his then girlfriend who was receiving the illegal drugs on his behalf. [Emphasis added]
The “new fact” emerged from the extensive surveillance and interception of phone calls made by defendants during the course of the steroid investigation. There may have been thousands of intercepted phone calls. Prosecutors have not ruled out additional indictments arising out of the Texas steroid investigation. Read more
U.S. District Judge Jack T. Camp sentenced Jared Wheat and Sergio Oliveira to prison for their involvement with Planet Pharmacy in Belize which produced generic versions of various prescription drugs including various anabolic steroids. The government prosecutors in the case advocated 37 months for Wheat and 18 months for Oliveira; Judge Camp rejected the recommended sentencing included in their plea agreements under Rule 11(c)(1)(C) because it wasn’t harsh enough given “the seriousness of the conduct.” The C-pleas gives the defendant(s) the option to withdraw a guilty plea if the judge denies the sentencing deal; Wheat and Oliveira decided to proceed with sentencing. Jared Wheat was sentenced to 50 months in prison and Sergio Oliveira was sentenced to 27 months in prison (”Diet supplement king gets 50 months in prison,” February 3).
Jared Wheat founded Planet Pharmacy on September 20, 2001 when the corporate domain name PlanetPharmacy.bz was registered. The manufacturing, marketing, and sale of inexpensive generic pharmaceuticals commenced five months later. Sergio Oliveira was hired by Wheat in April 2003 to oversee offshore marketing for Planet Pharmacy; Oliveira introduced various anabolic steroids and ancillary products to the Planet Pharmacy product line including generic versions of Anavar, Anadrol, Dianabol, Winstrol, Arimidex, Clomid and Nolvadex. All of these activities were completely legal in Belize. The United States government nonetheless held the defendants criminally responsible for directly importing medications into the United States, in part, because they “knew” that one of their Mexican wholesalers was shipping parcels to residents of the United States.
Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals President and CEO Jared R. Wheat, Vice President Stephen D. Smith, co-founder Tomasz Holda and Sales Associate Sergio Oliveira pleaded guilty last week to one count of conspiracy i.e “conspiring to violate federal prohibitions against mail and wire fraud and the importation and distribution of adulterated, unapproved, and mislabeled drugs.” The defendants admitted to the operation of a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility doing business as Planet Pharmacy in Belize where they produced generic versions of various prescription drugs which were sold without a prescription on the Internet (”Four “Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals” Case Defendants Plead Guilty to Importing and Distributing “Knock-Off” Prescription Drugs,” August 18).
United States Attorney David E. Nahmias said of the pleas, “These defendants set up an offshore manufacturing facility where, in unsanitary conditions, they reproduced leading pharmaceutical products for importation into the United States, all without FDA approval or licensing from the rightful patent holders. Their motive in flouting the law, violating patents and exposing their customers to unknown health risks was greed, pure and simple. I commend the FDA and the DEA for their thorough investigation in this case. The Department of Justice and these agencies will continue to work hard to protect American consumers from such fraudsters.”
The U.S. Attorney did not mention that Planet Pharmacy, operating in Belize, could legally produce generic versions of drugs such as Xanax, Valium, Ambien, Vioxx, Lipitor, Zoloft, Viagra, Cialis, Anavar, Anadrol, Dianabol, Winstrol, Arimidex, Clomid, Nolvadex, etc. because of the existence of a loophole in Belize law. Planet Pharmacy believed they were legally operating as long as they did not directly market or distribute the products to residents of the United States.
