A Houston federal judge has sent a counterfeit cancer drug seller to prison for nearly four years after investigators discovered vials labeled as Keytruda that contained no real cancer-fighting medicine at all. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal sentenced 45-year-old Sanjay Kumar to 43 months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to traffic counterfeit cancer drugs that were shipped to Houston. The judge also ordered Kumar to forfeit $58,800, according to court records. Laboratory testing showed the supposedly life-saving vials were chemically inconsistent with genuine Keytruda and lacked the active ingredient needed to treat cancer, instead containing fillers and adulterants. Kumar has been held in federal custody since his arrest in 2024, as reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
What prosecutors say
Federal prosecutors say Kumar and others spent years selling counterfeit oncology drugs, including vials labeled as Merck’s Keytruda, to undercover Homeland Security agents and to a private buyer, arranging multiple shipments to Houston. Court filings and the indictment state that the packaging carried Merck trademarks and that forensic testing found the product “chemically inconsistent” with authentic Keytruda and missing the actual drug. The indictment outlines several shipments between 2019 and 2023 that were seized or tested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Undercover sting and arrest
Officials say Kumar was arrested in June 2024 after he flew into Houston to meet people he believed were business partners in the drug trade. Instead, he walked into an undercover operation. When agents confronted him, he admitted the vials were fake and said they were “just like water,” reporters noted. Judge Rosenthal imposed the 43-month prison term and ordered the $58,800 forfeiture at a hearing this week. Court records indicate the group sold to undercover agents and a private company over the course of the investigation, rather than being caught through a specific patient complaint. As reported by the Houston Chronicle.
Legal consequences
Kumar pleaded guilty in October to a conspiracy charge accusing him of trafficking in counterfeit goods. The criminal statutes in the indictment carried possible maximum sentences that could have put him behind bars for decades, although Judge Rosenthal ultimately imposed a significantly shorter term. The sentencing also included a criminal forfeiture order tied to proceeds from the sales, and the prison term will be followed by a period of supervised release as ordered by the court. The case was prosecuted by the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section together with prosecutors from the Southern District of Texas. Per the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Part of a larger enforcement push
Federal law enforcement officials say cases like this highlight a broader problem of counterfeit oncology drugs reaching U.S. buyers. In several investigations, vials labeled as Keytruda have turned out to contain no active ingredient at all and, in some instances, common over-the-counter medicines or various contaminants. In a related example, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Washington secured 30-month prison sentences last year for two brothers after undercover purchases and lab testing revealed counterfeit or contaminated cancer drugs, a pattern that investigators say underscores the importance of cross-border cooperation and undercover work. See the Western District of Washington press release for context: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Washington.
What’s next
Prosecutors say intercepting and testing suspicious pharmaceutical shipments remains a top priority for Homeland Security Investigations and the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations, since counterfeit oncology drugs pose direct and potentially deadly risks to cancer patients who think they are getting legitimate treatment. No other suspects have been publicly charged in the Houston conspiracy, the Chronicle reported. Houston Chronicle.
