MIAMI – A Miami man could spend the next five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to distributing millions of dollars worth of adulterated HIV drugs.
Prosecutors accused Armando Herrera, 43, and various co-conspirators of establishing companies in Florida, California, Texas and Washington to sell and distribute adulterated prescription drugs, mostly HIV medications, to wholesale pharmaceutical subscribers.
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“Herrera and his co-conspirators created false documentation to make it appear as though the drugs were acquired legitimately when, in fact, they were not,” a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice states. “The pharmaceutical suppliers then sold the drugs to pharmacies, which dispensed the adulterated prescription drugs to unwitting patients.”
Prosecutors said the group made at least $16.7 million from the operation.
According to federal court documents, Herrera and the other co-conspirators were alleged to have adulterated and mislabeled at least 16,050 tablets worth of HIV medication Truvada, 3,690 tablets of HIV medication Biktarvy and 7,341 tablets of “other adulterated and misbranded diverted drugs.”
Herrera pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to introduce adulterated and misbranded drugs into interstate commerce, prosecutors said.
He’s scheduled to be sentenced in federal court on Dec. 21.
Court documents: