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Detroit man caught selling chinese made counterfeit Viagra.
A Detroit man is wanted for allegedly running a counterfeit Viagra and Cialis drug ring that he described as ?a little hustle? that made him $200 a week, according to an affidavit filed today in U.S. District Court.
The affidavit seeks an arrest warrant for Gene Hardwick, 49, who came to the attention of federal agents last year after a package containing 901 fake Viagra pills was addressed to his apartment on Riverfront Drive. The package, which was intercepted in January 2010 at the O?Hare International Mail Branch in Chicago, was shipped from China. The shipping label said it contained a ?gift bag? valued at $16.
When federal agents opened the bag, they discovered 901 diamond-shaped blue pills embossed with ?Pfizer? on one side and ?VGR 100? on the other, the affidavit said. The pills turned out to be fake, it said.
A week later, federal agents interviewed Hardwick at his apartment, and told him he was not under arrest. When asked about the pills, ?Hardwick stated he thought the pills were generic ? He also stated that he has purchased Viagra and Cialis from various Internet websites associated with China for the past 12 months,? the affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, Hardwick paid 50 cents per pill, then sold them for $3 to $4 a pill to associates, keeping some for personal use. The pills typically arrived in a purse or women?s handbag, the document stated.
?Hardwick stated he makes approximately two hundred dollars ($200) per week and described his activity as 'a little hustle,'"the federal agent wrote in his affidavit.
Hardwick paid for the pills via Western Union, and said that in the past 12 months, he had wired roughly $8,000 to a man in China for the pills, the affidavit said.
Hardwick said that he kept a portion of the pills for personal use, and sold the others to unnamed associates.
With Hardwick?s permission, federal agents searched Hardwick?s home and vehicle, which contained 40 boxes of purported Cialis.
Like the Viagra discovered at the airport, the affidavit said, the Cialis in his car also turned out to be fake.
On March 17, Hardwick was arrested in Detroit. He was arraigned and released on bond, on the condition that he not commit any additional criminal acts.
The next day, on May 18, a federal search warrant was authorized on a home in Livonia, which was listed in Hardwick?s name. There, agents found more counterfeit Viagra and Cialis pills, and fresh orders for more pills, indicating Hardwick, though on bond, was still running an illegal prescription drug operation, the affidavit said.
That triggered the second request for an arrest warrant.
Hardwick?s lawyer, Paul Curtis, was unavailable for comment.
A Detroit man is wanted for allegedly running a counterfeit Viagra and Cialis drug ring that he described as ?a little hustle? that made him $200 a week, according to an affidavit filed today in U.S. District Court.
The affidavit seeks an arrest warrant for Gene Hardwick, 49, who came to the attention of federal agents last year after a package containing 901 fake Viagra pills was addressed to his apartment on Riverfront Drive. The package, which was intercepted in January 2010 at the O?Hare International Mail Branch in Chicago, was shipped from China. The shipping label said it contained a ?gift bag? valued at $16.
When federal agents opened the bag, they discovered 901 diamond-shaped blue pills embossed with ?Pfizer? on one side and ?VGR 100? on the other, the affidavit said. The pills turned out to be fake, it said.
A week later, federal agents interviewed Hardwick at his apartment, and told him he was not under arrest. When asked about the pills, ?Hardwick stated he thought the pills were generic ? He also stated that he has purchased Viagra and Cialis from various Internet websites associated with China for the past 12 months,? the affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, Hardwick paid 50 cents per pill, then sold them for $3 to $4 a pill to associates, keeping some for personal use. The pills typically arrived in a purse or women?s handbag, the document stated.
?Hardwick stated he makes approximately two hundred dollars ($200) per week and described his activity as 'a little hustle,'"the federal agent wrote in his affidavit.
Hardwick paid for the pills via Western Union, and said that in the past 12 months, he had wired roughly $8,000 to a man in China for the pills, the affidavit said.
Hardwick said that he kept a portion of the pills for personal use, and sold the others to unnamed associates.
With Hardwick?s permission, federal agents searched Hardwick?s home and vehicle, which contained 40 boxes of purported Cialis.
Like the Viagra discovered at the airport, the affidavit said, the Cialis in his car also turned out to be fake.
On March 17, Hardwick was arrested in Detroit. He was arraigned and released on bond, on the condition that he not commit any additional criminal acts.
The next day, on May 18, a federal search warrant was authorized on a home in Livonia, which was listed in Hardwick?s name. There, agents found more counterfeit Viagra and Cialis pills, and fresh orders for more pills, indicating Hardwick, though on bond, was still running an illegal prescription drug operation, the affidavit said.
That triggered the second request for an arrest warrant.
Hardwick?s lawyer, Paul Curtis, was unavailable for comment.
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