Pharmacist sentenced for illegal sale of cough syrup

By Gabrielle Dawson

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    DETROIT, Michigan (WWJ) — A Livonia pharmacy owner was sentenced to three years in prison, the United States Department of Justice announced.

Zaman Alshafey pled guilty to wire fraud and money laundering, officials said.

He was ordered to forfeit about $9 million as the gross proceeds of his unlawful conduct, announced United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison.

Alshafey used his pharmacy license and Medpro Pharmacy in Livonia to order more than $2.5 million of pint-sized bottles of promethazine cough syrup from different wholesale distributors who operate outside of Michigan, officials said.

He then sold the promethazine cough syrup to drug dealers without a valid prescription from a licensed practitioner and didn’t tell these wholesalers.

Alshafey paid the wholesalers via wire transfers from funds derived from the unlawful dispensing of the promethazine, officials said.

Promethazine cough syrup has been referred to on the illegal street market as “Green Drink” or “Purple Drink.”

“Providing misbranded prescription drugs puts all consumers’ health at risk,” Special Agent in Charge Ronne Malham, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Chicago Field Office said. “We will continue to pursue and bring to justice those who jeopardize the public’s health.”

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