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ICSC Columbus
Akron man, 32, pleads guilty to selling counterfeit drugs in mail-order scam
By Rick Armon
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Saturday, Dec 22, 2007
An Akron man busted for distributing counterfeit erectile dysfunction drugs is headed for the federal penal system.
Ryan Wheele, 32, was sentenced Friday in federal court to 30 days in prison for participating in an online pharmacy scam that delivered the prescription drugs through the mail.
He would receive shipments from Pakistan, India and Great Britain, and then repackage the pills as Viagra, Levitra and Cialis before mailing them to customers in the United States, authorities said.
Wheele would be given a list of customers and fill the orders ''by hand in unsanitary conditions such as the sink area of his basement where his pet cats live,'' authorities said.
The pills weren't phony, but they also weren't brand-name prescription drugs.
He was paid $15 per order and made $12,000 between December 2005 and June 2006.
Wheele, who got into the business after meeting someone on the Internet, was caught when U.S. postal workers got suspicious and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Drug Enforcement Administration began investigating. When authorities searched his home on 13th Street Southwest, they found more than 50,000 pills.
Public defender Charles Fleming said Wheele thought it was a ''quick way to make a fast buck.''
Wheele, who is attending school to get a communications degree and interning at a Cleveland television station, told Judge David Dowd he takes full responsibility for his actions. He had earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy and trafficking in counterfeit prescription drugs.
Before imposing the sentence, Dowd noted that people are overrun with advertisements touting the wonders of erectile dysfunction pills and Wheele was looking to cash in.
''Apparently the whole male population needs assistance,'' the judge said.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com.
An Akron man busted for distributing counterfeit erectile dysfunction drugs is headed for the federal penal system.
Get the full article here.
