Score:   1
Docket Number:   CD-CA  2:19-cr-00298
Case Name:   USA v. Premiere Sales Group Inc et al
  Press Releases:
          LOS ANGELES – Three companies and five executives have agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal charges alleging that they purchased and resold millions of dollars’ worth of pharmaceutical-grade erectile dysfunction pills that were falsely labeled as male herbal remedies.

          The anticipated guilty pleas are in relation to three cases filed today in United States District Court against distributors of the misbranded drugs.

          In one of the new cases, Ronald Daniel Scott, a.k.a., “Danny Scott,” 49, of Stevenson Ranch, agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce. Scott is the chief executive officer of Premiere Sales Group, Inc., a Santa Clarita-based company that also agreed to plead guilty to the same charge. Scott admitted in a plea agreement filed today that, from 2013 until early 2017, he purchased at least 1.7 million male sexual enhancement pills for $3.8 million from John Seil Lee, 40, of Walnut, the manufacturer of the pills who pleaded guilty in February to a series of felony offenses related to his illegal business.

          Two other federal cases filed today charged the following six defendants with misdemeanor charges of conspiring with Lee to distribute his misbranded erectile enhancement drugs:

Contenda Health LLC, a Southern Pines, North Carolina-based company;

Chase Evan Cranford, 36, of Raleigh, North Carolina, the owner of Contenda Health LLC;

Randall Cranford, 65, of Pinehurst, North Carolina, who is Chase Cranford’s father and who assisted him at Contenda Health;

Eldorado Trading Company II, Inc., a distributor of adult toys and other sexual products, based in Broomfield, Colorado;

Jon Vogt, 58, of Erie, Colorado, the director of purchasing for Eldorado Trading; and

Dennis Jones, 65, of Thornton, Colorado, the senior buyer at Eldorado Trading.

          According to court documents, Lee smuggled powder Tadalafil – the prescription drug used to treat erectile dysfunction and sold under the brand name Cialis – from China. Lee then manufactured the powder Tadalafil into pills that he sold to distributors across the United States. In order to boost sales, Lee made the pills with up to 14 times the level of Tadalafil contained in Cialis. Lee sold at least $11 million worth of pills across the United States – under names such as “X Again,” “X Monster” and “Royal Master” – with labels that did not disclose the presence of Tadalafil and falsely stated that no prescription was necessary.

          In their plea agreements, Contenda Health and the Cranfords admitted to purchasing more than 1.4 million misbranded pills from Lee for approximately $2.1 million, which they resold to retail locations across the United States.

          Eldorado Trading, Jones, and Vogt admitted in their plea agreements to buying hundreds of thousands of misbranded pills from Lee, which Eldorado Trading resold for a profit of at least $215,000.

          Once they enter their guilty pleas, the five businessmen charged today each will face a statutory maximum sentence of one year in federal prison. The three corporate entities will face up to five years of probation, as well as monetary sanctions of up to $200,000 in fines or twice the gross gain resulting from the criminal offenses.

          The arraignments in these cases have been scheduled for June 24 for the defendants in the Eldorado Trading case, June 27 for the defendants in the Premiere Sales case, and July 15 for the defendants in the Contenda Health case.

          The FDA’s approval of Cialis is limited to the use under the supervision of a licensed professional. Due to toxicity and other potentially harmful effects – including life-threatening drops in blood pressure, loss of vision, loss of hearing and prolonged, painful erections that can result in permanent injury – drugs similar to Cialis are not safe for use except under the supervision of a medical practitioner.

          The investigation into these cases was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations.

          The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Matthew W. O’Brien of the Environmental and Community Safety Crimes Section.

          Hidden active pharmaceutical ingredients have been identified in products promoted not only for sexual enhancement, but also for bodybuilding, pain relief and weight loss. The FDA has issued hundreds of public warnings and recall announcements related to these types of fraudulent products. The FDA’s Tainted Products database can help consumers identify some of these potentially harmful products. Even if a product is not included in the list, consumers should be cautious about using certain products, especially those promoted for sexual enhancement, weight loss, bodybuilding and pain relief.

Docket (0 Docs):   https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jVr4VB6kZ-evcAaJ3JCD-wLPAq4T-moRsLcY_MfQ9Tw
  Last Updated: 2023-10-19 05:16:01 UTC
Description: The fiscal year of the data file obtained from the AOUSC
Format: YYYY

Description: The code of the federal judicial circuit where the case was located
Format: A2

Description: The code of the federal judicial district where the case was located
Format: A2

Description: The code of the district office where the case was located
Format: A2

Description: Docket number assigned by the district to the case
Format: A7

Description: A unique number assigned to each defendant in a case which cannot be modified by the court
Format: A3

Description: A unique number assigned to each defendant in a case which can be modified by the court
Format: A3

Description: A sequential number indicating whether a case is an original proceeding or a reopen
Format: N5

Description: Case type associated with the current defendant record
Format: A2

Description: A concatenation of district, office, docket number, case type, defendant number, and reopen sequence number
Format: A18

Description: A concatenation of district, office, docket number, case type, and reopen sequence number
Format: A15

Description: The status of the defendant as assigned by the AOUSC
Format: A2

Description: A code indicating the fugitive status of a defendant
Format: A1

Description: The date upon which a defendant became a fugitive
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which a fugitive defendant was taken into custody
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date when a case was first docketed in the district court
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which proceedings in a case commenced on charges pending in the district court where the defendant appeared, or the date of the defendant’s felony-waiver of indictment
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: A code used to identify the nature of the proceeding
Format: N2

Description: The date when a defendant first appeared before a judicial officer in the district court where a charge was pending
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: A code indicating the event by which a defendant appeared before a judicial officer in the district court where a charge was pending
Format: A2

Description: A code indicating the type of legal counsel assigned to a defendant
Format: N2

Description: The title and section of the U.S. Code applicable to the offense committed which carried the highest severity
Format: A20

Description: A code indicating the level of offense associated with FTITLE1
Format: N2

Description: The four digit AO offense code associated with FTITLE1
Format: A4

Description: The four digit D2 offense code associated with FTITLE1
Format: A4

Description: A code indicating the severity associated with FTITLE1
Format: A3

Description: The FIPS code used to indicate the county or parish where an offense was committed
Format: A5

Description: The date of the last action taken on the record
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which judicial proceedings before the court concluded
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which the final sentence is recorded on the docket
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which the case was closed
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The total fine imposed at sentencing for all offenses of which the defendant was convicted and a fine was imposed
Format: N8

Description: A count of defendants filed including inter-district transfers
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants filed excluding inter-district transfers
Format: N1

Description: A count of original proceedings commenced
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants filed whose proceedings commenced by reopen, remand, appeal, or retrial
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants terminated including interdistrict transfers
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants terminated excluding interdistrict transfers
Format: N1

Description: A count of original proceedings terminated
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants terminated whose proceedings commenced by reopen, remand, appeal, or retrial
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants pending as of the last day of the period including long term fugitives
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants pending as of the last day of the period excluding long term fugitives
Format: N1

Description: The source from which the data were loaded into the AOUSC’s NewSTATS database
Format: A10

Description: A sequential number indicating the iteration of the defendant record
Format: N2

Description: The date the record was loaded into the AOUSC’s NewSTATS database
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: Statistical year ID label on data file obtained from the AOUSC which represents termination year
Format: YYYY

Data imported from FJC Integrated Database
F U C K I N G P E D O S R E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E