Florida Trio Indicted For Conspiracy To Make And Sell Fake Prescription Drugs

October 4, 2017

According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), three Florida residents have been charged with conspiracy to import, manufacture, and distribute fake prescription drugs and anabolic steroids. Ryan Sikora, Josh Bush, II, and Ariel Murphy all live in Chipley, Florida and were indicted by a federal grand jury in August. The last of the three made their initial court appearance on Friday, September 8, 2017.

According to court documents, U.S. Postal Inspectors discovered a large quantity of raw ingredients needed to make fake prescription drugs being sent from China to various addresses in southern Alabama and northern Florida. The DOJ alleges the trio used the raw materials and two large-scale presses to mass-produce pills in an illegal lab found near Chipley. Sikora, Bush, and Murphy produced four different counterfeit medicines: Viagra, Cialis, Accutane, and Clomid. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates all four of these drugs and a valid prescription is required for them to be legally dispensed. The DOJ alleges that Sikora, Bush, and Murphy were advertising and selling their fake drugs online.

The U.S. Postal Inspector’s Office, FDA – Office of Criminal Investigations, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Washington County (FL) Sheriff’s Office, and the Chipley (FL) Police Department all contributed to the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley Bodiford is prosecuting the case. Safemedicines.org