A 52-year-old man from Folsom, California has been hit with federal charges for his online operation peddling the unapproved depressant Etizolam, revealing a shady corner of internet drug sales.
Paul Z. Lamberty is accused of running two websites, encern.com and ohmod.com, that sold the drug across the nation including to Massachusetts users, despite it being considered illegal in the United States, and not only did he import these drugs from China he also slapped them with false "Research Purpose Only" and "Not for Human Consumption" labels to skirt regulations.
The U.S. Department of Justice dropped the hammer with two counts on Lamberty: conspiracy to defraud the United States and introduction of misbranded drugs with intent to defraud and mislead, as per officials. Etizolam, for those not in the know, falls into the thienodiazepine family, kissing cousins with benzodiazepines prescribed for sleep and anxiety disorders, but these drugs are a double-edged sword with risks of addiction, toxicity, and overdoses, especially when mixed with other brain dullers.
Lamberty's legal woes could see him behind bars for up to eight years, supervised release for six, and a wallet-busting fine of half a million bucks if convicted, though we must remember that in the eyes of the law, he's innocent until Uncle Sam proves otherwise in court.
This case is a group effort, with Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy, FDA's especial agent Fernando P. McMillan, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service's Inspector Ketty Larco-Ward taking point, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jared C. Dolan and Lauren A. Graber pitching in on the prosecution.
