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An eastern North Carolina man will spend two years in federal prison for selling counterfeit Viagra and Cialis pills in 2010 in Charlotte, prosecutors say.
Awni Shauaib Zayyad, 56, of Wilson, was sentenced this week in a federal court in Charlotte. He also must pay a $10,000 fine, according to federal officials.
Zayyad was arrested by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police on Aug. 23, 2010, as he arrived in Charlotte in a vehicle registered to his wife. Prosecutors say Zayyad was carrying 500 phony Viagra pills and more than 200 fake Cialis pills in his car.
Investigators say Zayyad sold more than 500 fake Viagra pills on June 24, 2010, at a convenience store in Charlotte. They testified in trial that Zayyad was planning to sell the pills at the same store when he was arrested in August of that year.
Zayyad was convicted by a jury in February 2012 on one count of conspiracy to traffic counterfeit prescription medications bearing counterfeit trademarks; two counts of trafficking counterfeit prescriptions bearing counterfeit trademarks; and two counts of selling and holding for sale counterfeit prescription medications with intent to defraud and mislead.
Prosecutors said the pills were made to look like Viagra and Cialis, which are used for treatment of erectile dysfunction.
During the trial, prosecutors said the pills had some of the active pharmaceutical ingredients of the medications, but the strength was unknown. The medications could carry a medical risk to those who took them, investigators said.
