November 1, 2017: New York Man Pleads Guilty to Selling Misbranded Animal Drugs Containing Steroids
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Food and Drug Administration
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U.S. Department of Justice Press Release
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For Immediate Release |
United States Department of Justice District of Maine |
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Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced that Alain Lamontagne, 55, of Middletown, New York, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to introducing into interstate commerce misbranded animal drugs.
According to court documents, Lamontagne operated a New York business that sold dietary supplements, tack supplies and intravenous drugs for horses. The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act regulates the manufacturing and distribution of drugs intended for humans and animals. The law prohibits the introduction into interstate commerce drugs that are adulterated or misbranded. A misbranded drug is one that contains a label that is false or misleading.
In March and May of 2017, Lamontagne sold two bottles of intravenous horse drugs to an undercover Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agent who was posing as a Maine horse trainer. The drug bottles shipped to Maine by Lamontagne bore fictitious labels that listed no active ingredients and falsely represented that the drugs were manufactured by a real pharmacy in Ontario, Canada. The drugs were tested by the FDA laboratory and found to contain stanozolol, an anabolic steroid.
“Distributing misbranded and adulterated animal drugs containing steroids to increase the performance of racehorses endangers the health and safety of those animals,” said Jeffrey J. Ebersole, Special Agent in Charge, FDA, Office of Criminal Investigations’ (OCI) New York Field Office. “We will continue to pursue and bring to justice those who subvert FDA’s requirements, which are designed to ensure, among other things, that animal drugs are safe and effective for their intended uses, as well as properly labeled.”
The defendant faces up to one year in jail and $100,000 fine on each of the two counts. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.
This case was investigated by the FDA, OCI.
Topic(s):
Consumer Protection
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