On September 25, 2023, the Department of Justice announced Armando Herrera, of Miami, Florida, entered a guilty plea involving a conspiracy case related to the introduction of adulterated and misbranded drugs into interstate commerce.
According to official court documents, Herrera and his alleged co-conspirators established businesses across multiple states to use as channels for the sale and distribution of what the government describes as “adulterated prescription drugs,” primarily medications for HIV. It is alleged that Herrera and his associates used fraudulent documentation to falsely legitimize the sourcing of the drugs. Subsequently, the compromised prescriptions were distributed to pharmacies by the wholesale pharmaceutical suppliers. The pharmacies then unknowingly dispensed adulterated medications to patients who also had no idea. Court documents suggest that the total value of these adulterated drugs exceeded $16.7 million.
A related complaint, filed in the Eastern District of New York, suggests that several defendants, including Herrera, at one point utilized authentic Gilead bottles that had previously contained legitimate Gilead HIV medication or other HIV-related drugs. The complaint alleges that the tamper-evident seals were reportedly compromised, and the original contents were replaced with “foreign tablets” before the defendants resealed the bottles.
Herrera is scheduled for sentencing on December 21st and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
The attorneys at Chilivis Grubman represent clients of all types and sizes in connection with criminal healthcare fraud and government investigations. If you need assistance with such a matter, please contact us today.