MSNBC is reporting that Jared Wheat, founder and CEO of Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals, has been sentenced in federal court to spend 50 months in prison and pay a $50,000 fine. Other executives from the Norcross, Ga.-based supplement firm already fessed up to Hi-Tech’s scheme of manufacturing counterfeit Rx drugs and selling them over the Internet. The Department of Justice earlier dropped charges against Hi-Tech that its herbal weight-loss supplements were spiked with ephedra.
In August 2008, The Tan Sheet wrote that DoJ’s prosecution of Hi-Tech progressed with the help of FDA, suggesting that the agency could begin more actively pursuing criminal charges against bad actors trafficking in counterfeit pharmaceuticals or tainted supplements. While the brains behind Hi-Tech will have plenty of time to ponder this, other firms engaging in funny business should know they could ultimately face more than just a recall and a slap on the wrist.
