Doctor Juan Antonio Ibanez of Tampa, Florida pled guilty to selling over 50 million hydrocodone pills from 2003-2007 via a number of internet pharmacy websites, including foxfamilymeds.com, medsforpain.com, prescriptiondrugplanet.com, sunshinefamilymeds.com and online-scripts.com.
The Tampa Tribune recounts a portion of the plea hearing:
“During this process, did you act knowingly and intentionally with due disregard for the law?” U.S. Magistrate Mark Pizzo asked Ibanez during his hearing this afternoon. “Yes, sir,” Ibanez responded. Asked his level of education, Ibanez said, “I’m a medical doctor, sir.”
Ibanez will not be sentenced for at least 80 days.
It still amazes me how individuals plea so quickly (Juan Ibanez was indicted in December 2007) when faced with a prosecutor’s pre Ryan Haight Act legal theories which, in my opinion, are fundamentally flawed, constitutionally impermissible, and expressly inconsistent with congressional intent. Given my extensive dicussion regarding the clarity of online pharmacy law, how Dr. Ibanez could say that he knew what he was doing was obviously illegal with a straight face is beyond me.
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Category: Internet Pharmacy Law
