Former Glastonbury Residents Indicted In $1.4M Misbranded Drug Scheme

GLASTONBURY, CT — Two former residents of Glastonbury have ben indicted in a federal drug case.

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, said Wednesday that a federal grand jury in New Haven has returned an indictment charging Ryan Fields, 49, and Lisa Mahan, 53, currently of Port Neches, Texas, and formerly of Glastonbury, with federal offenses for illegally selling misbranded and unapproved prescription drugs.

Avery said the indictment was returned on Aug. 8 and unsealed after Fields and Mahan were arrested Wednesday morning in Texas. They were to appear in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Wednesday, Avery said.

According to the indictment, from September 2021 to June of this year, Fields and Mahan operated two websites — identified as pinnedaminos.com and projectaminos.com — as well as a private Facebook group called "Pinned Aminos," through which they illegally sold and distributed to customers throughout the U.S. "misbranded prescription drugs." They did not require customers to provide a valid prescription, and some of the drugs they sold and distributed were unapproved by the Food and Drug Administration for human consumption, according to the indictment.

The drugs they sold also included drugs they illegally imported from foreign manufacturers, Avery said.

One example, according to the indictment, occurred on or about Dec. 16, 2022, when a package
containing purchased items, which had been shipped from Connecticut, was delivered via U.S.
Mail to an undercover post office box in Rhode Island. The package contained a bottle labeled 6mg/ml Albuterol Sulfate Research Compound, a vial labeled Prostaglandin El 2mg Research Compound, and a vial labeled Thymosin Alpha 1 2mg Research Compound. Albuterol Sulfate and Prostaglandin El were drugs that required a prescription and Thymosin Alpha 1 was not approved for sale by the FDA. All three items were misbranded, according go the indictment.

According to the indictment, in an effort to avoid detection and mislead the FDA, the pinnedaminos.com website had a disclaimer that falsely stated that the products for sale were "intended for laboratory and research use only," and "not intended for human ingestion." In addition, the labeling on the drugs sold and delivered to customers falsely stated that the drugs were "research compounds" and/or "not for human consumption," according t the indictment.

"Contrary to these representations, Fields and Mahan knew and intended that the drugs they sold were for human use, and through emails and posts on the Pinned Aminos Facebook group, they provided customers with information on the health benefits of the drugs they sold and directions on dosage," Avery said.

The indictment accuses Fields and Mahan of "unlawfully" shipping more than 10,000 parcels to customers throughout the country and collected more than $1.4 million from transactions.

Fields and Mahan used the proceeds to pay themselves, purchase cars, and purchase a residence in Texas, according to the indictment.

The indictment charges Fields and Mahan with one count of conspiracy to introduce misbranded or unapproved drugs into interstate commerce and to smuggle goods into the United States, which carries a maximum prison term of five years; and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years, Avery said.