Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Miami Herald - March 28, 2006
Todd Wright, twright@MiamiHerald.com
Now, he faces 60 years in prison after a Broward County jury Monday found him guilty on 32 different charges stemming from his role in a prescription drug ring that diluted medications meant for seriously ill patients.
Martino, 35, was the first to be tried and 18 others face similar charges for their roles in the drug distribution scheme that was eventually shut down in 2003.
Martino is expected to be sentenced May 19. Two other fugitives remain at large.
The case was one of State Attorney General Charlie Christ's top priorities and spurred legislation that increased the penalty for such crimes from a misdemeanor to a felony.
"Members of this drug ring took medication needed for some of our most seriously ill citizens -- including cancer and AIDS patients -- and not only altered, but diverted it for their own personal profit," Crist said in a press release. "Their actions reflected greed and a callous disregard for the well-being of patients who might need these important drugs, and I am pleased the jury recognized the serious nature of these offenses."
According to investigators, Martino and his co-conspirators set up four bogus-drug wholesalers and began peddling diluted drugs -- and sometimes bottles of tap water and chalk posing as lifesaving drugs -- to chain pharmacies in Florida, Texas, Missouri and Maryland.
Medications such as Epogen, a drug for kidney dialysis patients and cancer patients, and Neupogen, used for cancer and HIV patients, were diluted, and relabeled with claims of being as much as 20 times more powerful than the normal drug. Then, they were sold to pharmacies like Eckerd and Walgreens or directly to customers at a higher price.
The ring made millions of dollars before it was shut down.
In August 2001, investigators from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrested a man on charges of stealing $250,000 worth of Epogen from Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. That suspect told of the illegal activity that led to the drug ring.
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