TX: Pharmaceutical production manager sentenced in counterfeit drug trafficking conspiracy

Healthcare Facility Rx Drug Diversion – Counterfeit Cough Syrup

A Houston man who served as a production manager in a counterfeit drug trafficking scheme has been sentenced to federal prison for drug trafficking and money laundering violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs today.

Willis Reed, 61, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone.

According to the indictment, from April 2014 until August 2021, Reed conspired with ten others including Adam P. Runsdorf, the owner and president of Woodfield Pharmaceutical LLC based in Boca Raton, Florida.

According to information presented in court, Reed was a production manager and director of technical operations at Woodfield Pharmaceutical’s manufacturing facility in Houston, where employees produced more than 500,000 pints of counterfeit cough syrup for Byron Marshall, a Houston drug trafficker. Marshall’s drug trafficking organization sold the counterfeit drugs across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin, California, Florida, Arkansas, and Ohio. Prices generally ranged from $100 to more than $1,000 per one-pint bottle. Depending on the market and brand of cough syrup, prices went as high as $3,800 to $4,000 per pint.

All eleven defendants charged in the indictment, including Reed, pleaded guilty. All eleven have been sentenced. Byron A. Marshall, Tunji Campbell, and Adam Runsdorf pleaded guilty to conspiracy, trafficking in counterfeit drugs, and money laundering conspiracy. Marshall was sentenced to 300 months in federal prison. Campbell, who partnered with Marshall to hatch the scheme, was sentenced to 135 months imprisonment. Runsdorf was sentenced to 72 months imprisonment and ordered to forfeit $5 million and a McLaren sportscar. Chauntell D. Brown pleaded guilty to conspiracy and trafficking in counterfeit drugs and was sentenced to 72 months imprisonment. In addition to Reed, Cheryl A. Anderson, Ashley A. Rhea, Maria Anzures-Camarena, Kalpen Patel, and Jonathan Shaver each pleaded guilty to conspiracy and were sentenced to 60 months imprisonment. Gina Acosta pleaded guilty to conspiracy and was sentenced to 40 months imprisonment. Reed was the last defendant to be sentenced in the case.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration; U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations; Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation; Federal Bureau of Investigation; U.S. Marshals Service; Houston Police Department; Galveston Police Department; Galveston County Sheriff’s Office; Dickinson Police Department; League City Police Department; Pearland Police Department; Pasadena Police Department; Texas City Police Department; Harris County Precent #2; Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office; Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office; Liberty County Sheriff’s Office; and the Texas National Guard.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John B. Ross, Jonathan C. Lee, and Robert Wells.

Press Release