Greenbelt, Maryland – In a major blow to the illicit peptide trade, Gavin Burns Smith, a 45-year-old bodybuilding enthusiast from New Port Richey, Florida, was sentenced to six months of home confinement followed by three years of probation for selling peptides that were not approved by the FDA for human use.
U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel entered an order requiring Smith to forfeit $2,102,684.06, the value of the misbranded drugs subject to seizure. The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Mark McCormack of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations’ Metro Washington Field Office.
“Non-FDA approved drugs may be dangerous and contain unknown and harmful ingredients,” said Mark S. McCormack, Special Agent in Charge, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations’ Metro Washington Office. “As we did in this case, we will continue to protect the public by bringing these peddlers of dangerous unapproved drugs to justice.”
According to his plea agreement, from 2010 to April 2012, Smith owned and operated Precision Peptides, located in Lutz, Florida; and from April 2012 to May 2015, he owned and operated DNA Peptides, located in New Port Richey, Florida. Smith placed advertisements on the companies’ websites and sold body-enhancing injectable drugs to individuals seeking to enhance their physiques. These drugs were not approved by the FDA for human use.
On eight separate occasions, Smith sold misbranded drugs to an undercover officer and shipped those drugs from Florida to locations in Laurel, Columbia, and Beltsville, Maryland. None of the drug shipments included any directions for use of the products. Additionally, although the labels stated that the products were for research only, Smith intended that the products be consumed by humans.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations for its work in the investigation and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys James A. Crowell IV and Kelly O’Connell Hayes, who prosecuted the case.
The seized funds will be forfeited to the U.S. government, which will use the money to fund future investigations and prosecutions of individuals and organizations involved in the peptide trade.
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Key Facts
- State: Maryland
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime|Cybercrime|Public Corruption|Weapons|Human Trafficking|White Collar Crime|Organized Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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