The federal court sentenced yesterday to six months in prison Cai Xia Xu, a Chinese female national tagged by federal agents as a big-time supplier of fake Viagra.<\/p>\n
Xu was given credit for the six months she has already spent in jail, which means she should already have been released yesterday.<\/p>\n
Michael Dotts, the court-appointed counsel for Xu, told reporters after the sentencing that the U.S. Marshal Service will turn Xu over to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for deportation proceedings.<\/p>\n
Trafficking in counterfeit goods is a deportable offense.<\/p>\n
U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona ordered Xu to pay $9,365.23 in restitution to Viagra manufacturer Pfizer and required her to pay a $250 court assessment fee.<\/p>\n
Xu was placed on three years of supervised release and required, among other conditions, to perform 100 hours of community service.<\/p>\n
Dotts said that Xu, who has been on Saipan for 12 years now, used to be a garment worker who eventually engaged in farming.<\/p>\n
Xu pleaded guilty in July to two counts of trafficking in counterfeit goods as part of a plea deal. The other charges\u2014introduction of misbranded drugs into interstate commerce and receipt and delivery of misbranded drugs in interstate commerce\u2014were dropped.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration\u2019s Office of Criminal Investigations said that a confidential source bought a total of 50 bottles of fake Viagra from Xu in separate occasions earlier this year. Each bottle reportedly contained at least 30 tablets.<\/p>\n
An FDA agent said that test results on the drug bought from Xu showed that the label and foil seal were not authentic and the bottle had a wrong recycle code.<\/p>\n
An officer from Pfizer Global Security reportedly tested the tablets and determined that the tablets and labeling were both fake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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