BOSTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Massachusetts), published as received.
BOSTON – A Pawtucket, R.I. man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Boston for trafficking in counterfeit prescription medications.
Ricky Lugo, 49, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to a year and a day in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $104,239. In October 2015, he was charged with four counts of trafficking in counterfeit versions of erectile dysfunction medications, including Pfizer Inc.’s Viagra, Eli Lilly’s Cialis, and Bayer’s Levitra.
From June 2013 to March 2014, Lugo sold counterfeit Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra on Craigslist and in person. Lugo purchased the counterfeit pharmaceuticals from sources outside the United States, including from China. Lugo knew that the goods he was selling were counterfeit, but nonetheless sold and attempted to sell thousands of the tablets.
At today’s sentencing hearing, Judge Gorton said that Lugo’s crime was serious, and that it was important that he be punished as a form of general deterrence to others that might consider selling counterfeit pharmaceuticals on the Internet. Judge Gorton noted that but for the extenuating circumstances of Lugo’s medical condition, he would have sentenced him to a longer term of imprisonment.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and Shelly Binkowski, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Harman Burkart of Ortiz’s Cybercrime Unit.
