A 31-year-old man who sold counterfeit Xanax on the dark web, both before and after he was indicted for doing so, was sentenced to 54 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Audrey G. Fleissig.
“I hope you understand that you put people’s lives at risk,” Judge Fleissig told John Cruz.
Cruz, of Rochester, N.Y., pleaded guilty on two occasions in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of conspiracy to misbrand, introduce misbranded drugs and sell counterfeit drugs: Nov. 29, 2023, and July 1, 2024. Cruz admitted purchasing counterfeit Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, on the darknet and then reselling it from at least October 2019 through May 2021. He also admitted that while he was out on bond after his 2023 guilty plea, he operated a darknet website where he offered four different types of counterfeit/misbranded pills.
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#NewYork
#Missouri
#Alprazolam
#DarkWeb