A doctor that has been charged in a multimillion dollar scheme involving the illegal sale of prescription drugs to patients is being released. The charges are being dismissed in part because there is simply too much evidence.
According to bradenton.com, Armando Angulo was charged in a scheme where millions of dollars of prescription drugs were sold to patients that had never been examined by a physician in order to get the prescriptions.
The 59-year old doctor, originally from Panama, was accused of authorizing thousands of prescriptions for a variety of different medications without actually examining the patients from 2003 to 2004.
He did this while working for Pharmacom International, an Internet prescription company. This company is being charged with approving prescriptions without examining patients, communicating with them in any way, or even verifying their identities.
The investigation began in 2003. Since then, an Iowa drugstore was raided. 26 people, including 19 doctors, were convicted. Two Internet pharmacies were brought down and $7 million was recovered initially.
After the investigation began and Angula's medical license was suspended, Angula fled the country to Panama, a nation that does not extradite its own citizens. Because of this and the fact that there was so much evidence to sort through, prosecutors gave up the charges on the doctor.
This is not the usual policy with a major drug suspect, but there is just too much evidence to sort through and it is unlikely that Angulo will return to the U.S. or another country that extradites any time soon, so authorities chose to focus their attention on the bigger burden.
The investigation has been going on for nine years and a lot of evidence has been collected to charge those involved in the scheme. There are literally over 400,000 documents and over two terabytes of data stored electronically that have been collected as evidence for the case. This is just too much for the prosecution, and they want to throw out a large portion of it.
The charges for the case itself have been dropped, but Angulo is not off completely. He is still wanted for Medicaid fraud and narcotics charges in Florida, so he will be arrested upon his return to the United States, if that should happen.
According to bradenton.com, Armando Angulo was charged in a scheme where millions of dollars of prescription drugs were sold to patients that had never been examined by a physician in order to get the prescriptions.
The 59-year old doctor, originally from Panama, was accused of authorizing thousands of prescriptions for a variety of different medications without actually examining the patients from 2003 to 2004.
He did this while working for Pharmacom International, an Internet prescription company. This company is being charged with approving prescriptions without examining patients, communicating with them in any way, or even verifying their identities.
The investigation began in 2003. Since then, an Iowa drugstore was raided. 26 people, including 19 doctors, were convicted. Two Internet pharmacies were brought down and $7 million was recovered initially.
After the investigation began and Angula's medical license was suspended, Angula fled the country to Panama, a nation that does not extradite its own citizens. Because of this and the fact that there was so much evidence to sort through, prosecutors gave up the charges on the doctor.
This is not the usual policy with a major drug suspect, but there is just too much evidence to sort through and it is unlikely that Angulo will return to the U.S. or another country that extradites any time soon, so authorities chose to focus their attention on the bigger burden.
The investigation has been going on for nine years and a lot of evidence has been collected to charge those involved in the scheme. There are literally over 400,000 documents and over two terabytes of data stored electronically that have been collected as evidence for the case. This is just too much for the prosecution, and they want to throw out a large portion of it.
The charges for the case itself have been dropped, but Angulo is not off completely. He is still wanted for Medicaid fraud and narcotics charges in Florida, so he will be arrested upon his return to the United States, if that should happen.
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