A Peoria pharmacist, Vilawoe Aku Boadu, and a pharmacist technician, Zinka Sisic, have been convicted of conspiring to distribute controlled substances and conspiring to launder money involved in a drug trafficking offense.
Boadu, age 39, was sentenced to 120 months in prison. Sisic, age 30, of Phoenix, was sentenced to 48 months in prison.
From September 2014 until their arrest in July 2017, Boadu and Sisic used two pharmacies owned by Boadu – Scottsdale Health Pharmacy and V-Estrella Pharmacy – to process fraudulent prescriptions and distribute more than 200,000 oxycodone and hydrocodone tablets into the community. Boadu and Sisic also illegally diverted thousands of alprazolam tablets, and more than 13 gallons of promethazine with codeine. Boadu and Sisic regularly provided their coconspirators with 100-count bottles of high-dosage prescription opioids directly from the pharmaceutical companies.
Michael Karron Holley, 32, and Julian Thomas Petty, 27, local musicians who used the stage names “Swerve Baller” and “Bouji,” were also convicted as part of this case. Holley was sentenced to eight years in prison, and Petty was sentenced to five years in prison. The investigation showed that Petty created fraudulent prescriptions in an attempt to legitimize the prescription drug diversion from Boadu’s pharmacies, and that Holley was primarily responsible for distributing the controlled substances to other street-level drug dealers. During the conspiracy, Holley and Petty both recorded songs and music videos promoting drug trafficking with lyrics such as, “don’t talk dope on cell phones” and “at the pharmacy pimping.”
As part of the investigation, law enforcement seized 25 firearms, other weapon components, numerous pistols, rifles, a shotgun, an AK-47, and a high-capacity 100-round magazine. Officials also seized several bank accounts and vehicles, including a Mercedes-Benz. As part of the judgment, the defendants were ordered to forfeit more than $100,000 worth of jewelry and more than 650 pairs of designer shoes.
“By creating fraudulent prescriptions with fake names, exclusively making cash payments, and using cell phones registered under false names, there is no doubt the defendants attempted to conceal their illegal activities. Special Agents with IRS Criminal Investigation are fully committed to working with their law enforcement partners in combatting the opioid epidemic sweeping our nation” stated IRS-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Ismael Nevarez Jr.