Illinois Resident Imported Foreign API and Pressed 80,000 Pills in Home for Sale Online

Encapsulation Machine

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that an Illinois resident pleaded guilty in federal court to four felony charges including the introduction of misbranded drugs, wire fraud, and distributing Tramadol, a Schedule IV controlled substance. According to the plea agreement, Skyler Dean Prahl, 32 of Champaign, Illinois, illegally imported Tramadol in powder form from overseas and used an encapsulation machine to make Tramadol capsules. Prahl operated an online business that marketed and sold the pills along with other substances to people around the U.S.

Authorities contend that Prahl sold over 80,000 units to customers without requiring a valid prescription. Prahl admitted to having sold some of the Tramadol pills to an undercover agent and also introduced a misbranded drug into interstate commerce by shipping some Tramadol pills to Owensboro, Kentucky. Prahl’s final admission was that between January 28, 2016 and March 5, 2016, he committed wire fraud by promising to deliver 3,000 Tramadol capsules, but failed to do so even after receiving payment.

Sentencing is scheduled for March 12, 2018. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations, United States Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Kentucky State Police, DESI-East all contributed to the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney David R. Weiser is prosecuting this case.