Lipitor Trafficker Gets Federal Prison Time

By William Murphy

Published on October 31, 2006

Julio Cruz was sentenced Oct. 23 in Kansas City, Missouri, by U.S. District Judge Ortrie Smith to 8½ years in federal prison without parole for being a key member of a group that illegally diverted and re-imported Lipitor shipments destined for South America.

Cruz and his associates mixed the genuine Lipitor with counterfeits manufactured in labs the group set up in Costa Rica. The pills were then sold to small prescription drug wholesalers in the United States, which in turn sold them to pharmacy chains throughout the country. Ultimately, the pills were sold for consumer consumption.

Smith gave Cruz an additional five years’ prison time without parole for violating the terms of a supervised release for a prior cocaine trafficking offense. Cruz’s arrest in the Lipitor case came while he was on release. In addition, Cruz will surrender $2 million he made as part of the Lipitor conspiracy, and he must pay $1.8 million in restitution to Pfizer, which manufactures Lipitor, the world’s best-selling prescription drug.

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