NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

BRADLEY J. SCHLOZMAN

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

OCTOBER 23, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FLORIDA MAN SENTENCED IN FAKE LIPITOR CONSPIRACY

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Bradley J. Schlozman, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Miami, Fla., man was sentenced in federal court today for his pivotal role in a multi-million dollar conspiracy to sell counterfeit, illegally imported and misbranded Lipitor and other drugs.

Julio Cesar Cruz, 43, a citizen of Cuba who was residing in Miami, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ortrie D. Smith this morning to 13 years and six months in federal prison without parole. The court sentenced Cruz to eight years and six months for the criminal conspiracy and revoked the term of supervised release that Cruz was serving for an unrelated federal offense (cocaine trafficking) at the time he committed this offense. The five-year sentence for violating his supervised release must be served consecutively to the sentence in the criminal conspiracy, which means Cruz will serve a total of 13 years and six months in federal prison without parole.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, Schlozman added, Cruz has already forfeited $2 million to the government, which represents proceeds from the conspiracy. The court also ordered Cruz to pay $1,806,905, in restitution to Pfizer, Inc., for which he is jointly and severally liable with the defendants in several separate, but related, cases. The restitution will be satisfied by a $2,195,000 civil forfeiture that H.D. Smith Wholesale Drug Company agreed to pay to the federal government on May 10, 2006.

“Cruz was a key player in an international, multi-million-dollar conspiracy,” Schlozman said. “Cruz made millions of dollars during the criminal scheme, but he will not be allowed to enjoy any of those profits.”

Cruz pleaded guilty on Jan. 21, 2005, to selling counterfeit drugs and to participating in a conspiracy to purchase and sell counterfeit, misbranded, and illegally imported drugs from February 2002 until at least April 2003. Co-conspirators, with the intent to defraud and mislead, caused the manufacture, importation, labeling, and repackaging of certain drugs, caused the misbranding and counterfeiting of certain drugs, and sold certain misbranded and counterfeited drugs.

Cruz played a dominant leadership role in the conspiracy to smuggle Lipitor from Brazil, and directed efforts to acquire the raw materials and the tooling and dies needed to manufacture counterfeit Lipitor. Co-conspirators purchased genuine Lipitor and Celebrex that was intended for distribution in South America, and illegally imported it into the United States, which is known as diversion. Co-conspirators also bought chemicals and equipment, which they shipped to Costa Rica to manufacture counterfeit Lipitor. The counterfeit Lipitor was then illegally imported into the United States.

Co-conspirators commingled the illegally imported Lipitor with the counterfeit Lipitor and sold it in the United States. This was accomplished by, among other things, making false and fraudulent representations to the U.S. Customs Service. Co-conspirators also created false pedigrees – which identify the persons and entities from whom the drug was purchased – for the drugs.

This conspiracy resulted in the largest recall in the history of criminal investigations of counterfeit medications. Following his arrest, Cruz directed investigators to a warehouse in Miami where millions of dollars of illegally smuggled and counterfeit prescription drugs were recovered. He also identified a location in Nicaragua where millions of dollars of counterfeit prescriptions drugs were stored, waiting to be smuggled into the United States.

Cruz is one of several defendants who were involved in the conspiracy and have been sentenced in separate, but related, cases.

* Domingo Gonzalez, 43, of Hialeah, Fla., was sentenced on June 30, 2006, to nine years and six months in federal prison without parole. Gonzalez’s principal role was to supervise and direct how the South American and counterfeit prescription drugs were smuggled into the United States. He also played a key role in controlling warehouses where the South American and counterfeit prescription drugs were stored in Miami, and getting these drugs packaged for shipment out of Miami to various locations in the United States for repackaging.

* Iggy Santisteban, 52, of Miami, was sentenced to three years and one month in federal prison without parole. Santisteban was convicted by a federal jury on Feb. 17, 2006, for his role in the conspiracy. Between October and November 2002, Santisteban printed counterfeit drug labels for Lipitor and other drugs. Those labels were placed on bottles containing counterfeit, illegally imported, and diverted tablets, which were distributed throughout the United States. Santisteban sub-contracted with other Miami-area printers for some of the labels. His own printing company, Iggy Prints, went bankrupt in March 2003.

* Robert Goodman, 42, of Miami, was sentenced on Sept. 14, 2006, to two years in federal prison without parole. Goodman pleaded guilty on March 31, 2005, to his role in the conspiracy, which involved transporting the counterfeit prescription drugs from the airport to a bonded warehouse. Rather than transporting the cargo directly from the airport to the bonded warehouse, as required by law, Goodman delivered the containers to another warehouse where they were opened and the counterfeit drugs removed and replaced with Epsom salts. Those containers were then resealed and delivered to the bonded warehouse.

These cases were prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Gene Porter. They were investigated by the Office of Criminal Investigations, U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, is available on-line at