MIAMI (WSVN) - A 37-year-old South Florida man was sentenced for his involvement in a fraudulent prescription medication scheme.
On Tuesday, Eladio Vega received an 87-month prison sentence followed by three years of supervised release for his role in a widespread fraud scheme that distributed adulterated and misbranded prescription medications, including drugs for cancer, HIV, psychiatric conditions, and other costly treatments, to unsuspecting patients, the FBI said in a news release. In May, Vega pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to traffic misbranded and adulterated drugs.
The fraudulent prescription medication diversion scheme operated with a division of labor, where street-level dealers procured the medicines and supplied them to other participants responsible for inspecting, cleaning, and packaging the drugs for shipment. These misbranded medications were then distributed to retail pharmacies through established pharmaceutical wholesale companies.
The wholesale company owners created false documentation, misrepresenting legitimate drug manufacturers as the source of the medications. However, in reality, the drugs were obtained through health care fraud, theft, burglary, or by purchasing prescriptions from patients who chose to sell rather than consume them.
Patients unknowingly purchased these drugs with no knowledge of their true origin, having been stored and transported with no regard for temperature, light, humidity, or other necessary maintenance controls.
Conspirators funneled the proceeds from the sales of these misbranded and adulterated drugs through multiple shell companies’ bank accounts.
So far, this case has resulted in 17 defendants being indicted, with 15 of them pleading guilty and receiving prison sentences. The only corporate defendant involved was sentenced to a forfeiture of $78 million.
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