Ivan Manuel Valle, Theft of Pre-Retail Medical Products, Florida 2014

Multiple defendants have been sentenced to prison terms for their roles in a multi-million dollar scheme to steal pre-retail medical products in South Florida.

The scheme involved the theft of more than $2.2 million worth of Mucinex cough medicine and $550,000 worth of Similac baby formula. The stolen products were originally intended for sale at Wal-Mart and Walgreens stores and other retailers in the Southeastern United States.

The defendants, Ivan Manuel Valle, 34, of Miami, Daniel Martinez Zamora, 45, of Homestead, Raul Nick Garcia, 52, of Surfside, Ali Saleh, 35, of Miramar, and Jesus Mariano Gutierrez, 51, of Miami, all pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme.

Garcia and Zamora were each sentenced to 48 months in prison on September 22, 2014. Valle was sentenced to 60 months in prison, while Gutierrez received a 30-month sentence. Saleh was sentenced to 34 months in prison on September 4, 2014.

The scheme was investigated by the FBI and FDA-OCI as part of the Miami Major Theft Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerrob Duffy.

The Safe Doses Act, passed by Congress in November 2012, prohibits the theft of pre-retail medical products and is the basis for the charges against the defendants.

According to court documents, the defendants worked together to steal and distribute the pre-retail medical products. Valle and Zamora acted as brokers, obtaining stolen product from others and selling portions of the stolen cargo. Garcia was a co-owner of Tadeo Supermarket in Miami, where stolen cargo was sold, and he also operated National Pallet, where stolen product was stored.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/pr/five-defendants-sentenced-prison-terms-multi-million-dollar-theft-pre-retail-medical