John Cruz, the New York man who made headlines for selling counterfeit Xanax on the dark web, has pleaded guilty to continuing his illegal operations while on bond. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Cruz, a 31-year-old from Rochester, admitted to one count of conspiracy to misbrand, introduce misbranded drugs, and sell counterfeit drugs in U.S. District Court in St. Louis.
Previously, on Nov. 29, 2023, Cruz had pleaded guilty to the same charge, confessing to the purchase and resale of counterfeit Xanax from at least October 2019 through May 2021. Despite this, Cruz continued his illicit trade on a darknet website, offering four different types of counterfeit/misbranded pills. An undercover FBI Special Agent conducted several purchases from Cruz using cryptocurrency, as part of an investigation that included several law enforcement agencies.
In a related operation, Cruz's co-defendant, Jared James of Lexington, Kentucky, was also implicated in the counterfeit drug trade. James, 48, was sentenced to 32 months in prison in May after his own guilty plea. A court-approved search of James’ home on April 9, 2024, uncovered pills in four colors and, on the day prior, officers observed James mailing packages containing around 1,000 counterfeit or misbranded pills each to multiple out-of-state locations.
Moreover, investigators seized a significant sum of $145,502 from an account held by Cruz in the cryptocurrency Monero, representing proceeds from the illegal pill sales. Cruz is scheduled to be sentenced on October 7, with each count he's facing carrying a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both, the Justice Department reports.
The federal authorities, including the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, conducted a collaborative investigation into these activities, leading to the shuttering of another node in the dark web's illicit drug marketplace. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Ware and Kyle Bateman are prosecuting the case, signifying the ongoing effort to combat the digital front of drug trafficking.
