Crime & Safety
Peddler Of Fake Erectile-Dysfunction Pills Convicted, Sentenced
The Elysian Park resident tried selling to undercover detectives the packs of pills, similar to Viagra, from a tool box in his SUV.
LOS ANGELES – An Elysian Park man caught selling counterfeit erectile dysfunction drugs from his vehicle must perform 30 days of community labor and pay more than $7,000 in fines and penalties, City Attorney Mike Feuer announced Wednesday.
Diego Rafael Alvarez, 50, must also pay $2,500 in restitution, stay 100 yards away from a residence in the 2000 block of N. Figueroa Street, and not possess any prescription medications unless prescribed to him by a licensed physician, Feuer said.
Alvarez, who was arrested following an undercover investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department, pleaded no contest to one count each of unlawfully furnishing a dangerous drug and possession for sale of a counterfeit mark.
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"My office, together with our partners in the LAPD, will always fight to protect the public from the risks posed by counterfeit drugs," Feuer said. "People who deal counterfeit drugs pose a threat to public health and safety and we will hold them accountable."
According to Feuer's office, Alvarez offered packs of counterfeit erectile dysfunction pills to an undercover private investigator and an LAPD detective on three separate occasions between last September and February outside the home on Figueroa Street.
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"The undercover detective was offered yellow and blue tablets which contained the same active ingredients as Viagra and violated trademarks registered to Eli Lilly and Company and Pfizer, Inc.," Feuer's office said. "The detective also observed several hundred counterfeit pharmaceuticals in a tool box on the front passenger seat of Alvarez’s vehicle," a black GMC Yukon parked along the 2000 block of N. Figueroa Street.
A total of 3,563 pharmaceuticals with an estimated retail value of $9,177 -- of which 3,498 purported to contain active ingredients requiring a prescription -- were discovered in Alvarez's home during a search, according to Feuer's office.
IN OTHER HEALTH NEWS:
--City News Service contributed to this report/Image courtesy of Los Angeles City Attorney office
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