Florida man pleads guilty to distributing adulterated HIV meds worth more than $16M

Sept. 26 (UPI) -- A Florida man pleaded guilty Monday to distributing more than $16.7 million worth of adulterated HIV medications, which were dispensed to unsuspecting patients throughout the United States, the Justice Department announced.

Armando Herrera, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to introduce adulterated and misbranded drugs into interstate commerce. The Miami resident is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 21, and could face a maximum of five years in prison.

According to court documents, Herrera and several co-conspirators established companies in Florida, Texas, Washington and California to sell and distribute adulterated prescription drugs. Herrera was also accused of creating false documentation.

"Herrera and his co-conspirators created false documentation to make it appear as though the drugs were acquired legitimately when, in fact, they were not," the Justice Department said in a statement.

Herrera is among 14 defendants charged in June in connection with more than $1.9 billion in health care fraud as part of the Justice Department's 2023 National Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action.

"This nationwide enforcement action demonstrates that the Criminal Division is committed to fighting healthcare fraud and opioid abuse by prosecuting those who allegedly exploit patients and health care benefit programs for personal gain," Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite Jr. of the Justice Department's Criminal Division said in a statement.

According to court documents, Herrera and his co-conspirators were accused of adulterating and mislabeling more than 16,000 tablets of HIV medication Truvada, 3,600 tablets of HIV medication Biktarvy and 7,340 tablets of "other adulterated and misbranded diverted drugs."

The altered drugs were sold to wholesale pharmaceutical suppliers. Those suppliers then sold the drugs to pharmacies, which dispensed them to unsuspecting patients.