Anthony Rouse III, Online Pharmacy Scheme, LA 2024

Federal court in Pittsburgh has slammed two Louisiana men with three years of probation, a gut-punch forfeiture of $433,833.00, and a $2,000 fine for their roles in a brazen online pharmacy scheme that flooded the U.S. with prescription drugs—no prescriptions, no questions asked. Anthony Rouse III, 40, of Thibodaux, Louisiana, and Troy Tapia, 46, of Morgan City, Louisiana, stood silent as Chief U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti read the sentence for their conspiracy to defraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering convictions.

The scam ran like a shadow pharmacy—illegal, unregulated, and dangerously accessible. Rouse and Tapia acted as U.S.-based enforcers for Duangthip Chutivaraporn, the alleged mastermind behind a network of websites peddling prescription drugs straight to American consumers. Customers could order potent medications like Nubain and Fioricet without ever seeing a doctor, submitting a medical history, or obtaining a legal prescription. The sites lied outright, claiming it was lawful to buy controlled substances online with no oversight.

There was no medical gatekeeping—just profit. Rouse and Tapia filled orders from their end, serving as distribution nodes in a criminal supply chain that exploited regulatory loopholes and consumer desperation. Payments flowed through offshore accounts, with their cut funneled into foreign banks and accessed via debit cards. Every transaction was a calculated evasion of federal drug and financial laws.

Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song didn’t mince words: this wasn’t healthcare. It was fraud wrapped in the guise of convenience. “This scheme endangered lives by putting dangerous prescription drugs into the hands of users with no medical supervision,” Song said. “The defendants helped fuel an underground drug network that bypassed every safeguard Congress put in place.”

The takedown was the result of a multi-agency dragnet. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations led the charge, backed by Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, and IRS Criminal Investigation. Their probe dismantled a digital drug pipeline that used the internet to turn pharmacies into profit centers for criminals.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Hull prosecuted the case with a no-nonsense approach, securing accountability for a scheme that blurred the line between online fraud and drug trafficking. While neither Rouse nor Tapia drew prison time, the forfeiture guts their illicit gains. The message is clear: federal agents are watching—and they’re coming for every dollar earned off illegal pills sold with a click.