Burlington, Vermont – International opiate kingpin Paul Bateman, 47, a citizen of the United Kingdom, has been sentenced to time-served and deportation after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, including the opiates Tapentadol and Tramadol.
US District Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford handed down the sentence on April 19, 2024, following Bateman’s extradition from the United Kingdom. Bateman had spent approximately 20 months in custody and was given no supervision to follow, with the understanding that he will be deported to the United Kingdom upon completion of his sentence.
Bateman’s co-conspirators, Samir Doshi and Rebecca Buckley, had previously been sentenced in connection with the case. In February 2019, Doshi was sentenced to time served after serving six months in jail, as well as forfeiting $20,000. Buckley was sentenced to five years of probation and forfeiture of $349,712.10 in September 2020.
According to court records, between 2015 and August 2019, Bateman worked with others to distribute controlled substances and other prescription drugs over the internet. Bateman, who was a search engine optimizer, created and maintained websites that offered controlled substances and other drugs for sale. He also took steps to improve the ranking of his websites in response to customer searches, despite not requiring a prescription for the distribution of the substances.
Bateman worked with Buckley, who provided customer service and credit card processing for customer orders made through Bateman’s websites. The websites sold drugs such as Modafinil, a wakefulness-promoting drug that is a Schedule IV controlled substance, and prescription medications for erectile dysfunction.
Bateman also worked with Doshi, who provided him with $2,000 to build websites for the sale of Schedule IV controlled substances Tramadol and Soma. Bateman received commission payments from Doshi and began marketing Tapentadol to customers, including by drafting and sending an email introducing Tapentadol as a product for sale. Tapentadol is an opiate classified as a Schedule II controlled substance.
The investigation was led by the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, with assistance from the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs and the United States Marshals Service. US Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest commended the efforts of law enforcement, stating, “From behind their computer screens, Bateman and his co-conspirators were responsible for distributing dangerous opiates and unregulated, prescription drugs to consumers throughout the United States and across the globe for profit.”
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Key Facts
- State: Vermont
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Cybercrime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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