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Florida Man Sentenced for Illegal Diet Pill Scheme
BATON ROUGE, LA – In a major blow to the illegal diet pill trade, a federal judge in Louisiana has sentenced 52-year-old John Wesley Hoag of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to 50 months in prison for his role in a multi-state scheme to sell mislabeled diet pills containing a Schedule IV controlled substance.
Hoag, 52, was ordered to serve a two-year term of supervised release following his release from imprisonment and to pay a fine of $7,500. He was also ordered to forfeit all property traceable to the gross proceeds of the scheme, including $679,116.33.
According to court documents, Hoag pled guilty on July 29, 2015, to engaging in a conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute sibutramine, a Schedule IV controlled substance. This was part of a broader scheme to illegally distribute diet pills containing sibutramine, which were falsely labeled and marketed as ‘all natural’ dietary supplements.
Sibutramine was the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Meridia, a prescription weight loss drug removed from the market in 2010 following studies that showed significantly increased risk of strokes and heart attacks. Since the removal of Meridia, no drug containing sibutramine has been approved for use in humans in the United States.
In a related case, 54-year-old Darlene V. Krueger of Destrehan, Louisiana, was convicted on March 22, 2016, of three counts of distribution of sibutramine and three counts of introduction of misbranded drugs into interstate commerce. Her sentencing date has not yet been set.
U.S. Attorney Walt Green stated, ‘Today’s sentence sends a strong message to the community that my office and our law enforcement partners take the distribution of illegal drugs, in all forms, extremely seriously.’ He thanked the dedicated law enforcement agents and prosecution team who investigated and prosecuted this complex case.
Robert J. West, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FDA’s Miami Field Office, added, ‘Consumers are put at serious risk when they are unknowingly exposed to undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients in products falsely labeled as natural dietary supplements.’ The FDA will continue to defend the public’s health by ensuring that dietary supplements are accurately labeled and do not contain dangerous undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Key Facts
- State: Louisiana
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime|Sex Crimes|Cybercrime|Public Corruption|Weapons|Human Trafficking|White Collar Crime|Organized Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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