18 May – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – Marcos Daniel Jiménez, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and David W. Bourne, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Office of Criminal Investigations, announced today that defendant, Anthony L. Jerdine, 33, of Pepperpike, Ohio, entered a guilty plea before United States Magistrate Judge Ted E. Bandstra, in Miami, Florida, to a one (1) count Information charging him with conspiracy to transport and sell in interstate commerce various prescription medical devices, knowing the devices to have been stolen, converted, or taken by fraud, and to impeding and obstructing the lawful and legitimate functions of the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) in enforcing federal laws and regulations applicable to prescription medical devices, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. Jerdine, pursuant to the terms of the plea agreement, agreed to forfeit $771,398.76, which represents the money he personally received in the course of the illegal enterprise.
The defendant’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 28, 2005, at 3:30 p.m. before United States District Court Judge Alan S. Gold. The defendant faces a maximum statutory term of imprisonment of five (5) years and a maximum fine of up to the greater of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss from the defendant’s relevant conduct.
According to the criminal charges and court records, Jerdine was a sales representative for a division of Johnson & Johnson, Ethicon Endosurgery, Inc., a company specializing in the development and distribution of prescription medical devices for use in surgical procedures. His employment included marketing of Ethicon devices to hospitals and other medical facilities in various cities in Ohio.
From approximately January 1998 through March 2000, Jerdine participated in a conspiracy with another sales representative in Ohio, and an individual named James M. Vogt, who was the principal behind International Surgical Supply, Inc., a front corporation initially operated in Colorado, that later became a Florida registered corporation with its principal place of business located in Miami. Vogt, operating under a variety of business names, solicited sales representatives of Ethicon and other medical device manufacturers through advertisements in trade journals and word of mouth, seeking to purchase medical devices for re-sale. It was part of the conspiracy that Jerdine and another sales representative, each in the course of their activities as representatives and without the knowledge or authorization of their employer Ethicon, secured control and possession of significant quantities of the prescription medical devices which they sold for personal gain to Vogt. The devices were acquired through a variety of means, including, among others, retaining devices that were manufactured by companies other than Ethicon when medical facilities converted to the use of Ethicon devices; recovering Ethicon manufactured devices from customer facilities when alternative or later model versions were substituted for earlier models; and illegally taking devices from customer facilities.
Similar charges are pending against six (6) other former sales representatives, three of whom have, themselves, entered guilty pleas and are awaiting sentencing in Miami.
Mr. Jiménez commended the investigative efforts of the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigation. These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Watts-FitzGerald.
A copy of all press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls . Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on .
