A U.S. district court has given a verdict for the Florida man to serve 15 years in prison, a year after his arrest for allegedly participating in a widespread plot to distribute bogus HIV medications while running an HIV drug ring. During the court hearing, Lazaro Hernandez, 51, confessed to “running a criminal enterprise” with accomplices and stealing prescription drugs “to make money.” The crooks created authorized distributors to sell unlawfully obtained and contaminated medications to wholesale pharmaceutical distributors, according to a statement from the Department of Justice (DOJ) following Hernandez’s arrest.
The medications were sent to pharmacies all around the nation and into the hands of numerous unknowing patients within the course of two years. District Judge Raag Singhal noted that the scheme not only involved HIV medications with missing information in their package inserts, but the goods sold to wholesalers also contained incorrect medication, broken pills, and even pebbles instead of the drugs.
Details for $230 Million HIV Drug Ring
- Over $230 million was earned by Hernandez and his accomplices in the HIV drug ring scheme.
- The money was allegedly laundered through various Miami firms.
- Hernandez’s personal profit was estimated at approximately $5 million, although no concrete evidence.
- Potential jail term exceeding 100 years if found guilty of all charges.
The DOJ declared a trial. The case will be prosecuted by attorneys Alexander Thor Pogozelski and Attorney Timothy James Abraham, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Stone handling asset forfeiture. Alexander Pogozelski, the prosecutor for the DOJ, described the entire scene as out of the box, putting patients’ health in danger. The prosecution believes that a message needs to be sent that these sorts of new methods to escape regulatory systems, dodge the FDA, and put patients at risk merely for greed and profit ought to be penalized severely. Hernandez was referred to be “one of the kingpins” of the counterfeit scheme by Gilead Sciences, one of the victims in the case, and the business is delighted with the effort put in by Pogozelski and his colleagues.
The 15-year prison sentence should deter counterfeiters and aid in patient protection. The integrity of prescription drugs in the U.S. supply chain and patient safety are further protected by this penalty. Gilead will continue to take the required steps to safeguard public health and safety by stopping the distribution of unlawful pharmaceuticals, including the involvement of agencies such as the FDA, FBI, and prosecution.
In a different HIV fraud case, Gilead recently won $175.2 million. In that case, hundreds of defendants were accused of deceptively enrolling patients in Gilead’s preexposure prophylaxis access program and then reselling the free PrEP medications that were provided as part of the program. After two settlements, one for $33 million and the other for an unknown sum, and another verdict valued at $43.8 million in Gilead’s favor, that judgment was rendered.
