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Texas Dietary Supplement Executive Gets Prison Time for Fraud Scheme
A former dietary supplement company executive has been sentenced to 41 months in prison for his role in a scheme to fraudulently sell popular workout supplements.
Sitesh Patel, 37, of Irvine, California, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay on February 19, 2021, for his role in the scheme, which involved the popular workout and weight loss supplements Jack3d and OxyElite Pro.
Patel was a vice president at S.K. Laboratories, a company that manufactured the supplements, which were distributed by Dallas-based USPlabs. The supplements were recalled in 2013 after an investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found that they may have caused liver injuries in consumers.
Patel pleaded guilty in 2019 to conspiracy to introduce misbranded food into interstate commerce and introduction of misbranded food into interstate commerce. He admitted that he and his co-defendants imported substances with false and misleading labeling to avoid law enforcement and regulatory agency attention.
Patel’s former company, S.K. Laboratories, was ordered to forfeit $6 million in connection with the case. USPlabs was also ordered to pay $4.7 million in criminal forfeiture.
The case was investigated by the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations and the IRS-Criminal Investigation. Patel’s sentencing is the latest in a series of convictions related to the scheme, which included the sentencing of USPlabs CEO Jacobo Geissler to 60 months in prison and USPlabs President Jonathan Doyle to 24 months in prison.
The scheme highlights the importance of regulation in the dietary supplement industry, said FDA Associate Commissioner Judy McMeekin. "Dietary supplement manufacturers must not be allowed to mislead the public about untested ingredients mixed into their products," she said. "We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate and bring to justice those who put profits ahead of the health of U.S. consumers."
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime|White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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