Owner admits a Florida clinic illegally sold steroids in KY, agrees to forfeit $11M
A Florida clinic pleaded guilty in federal court on Friday, admitting to participating in a conspiracy to distribute controlled substances in Kentucky.
In a plea deal, those responsible for the clinic agreed to forfeit property and more than $11 million made off the operation, according to court records.
Modern Therapy LLC, located in Hallandale, Florida, used the internet to market the sale of anabolic steroids, a schedule III controlled substance; human growth hormone (HGH); and related products including masking agents to consumers across the country, according to court records. Those consumers included people in Fayette, Kenton and Pike counties in Kentucky.
Maria Murcia, owner of Modern Therapy LLC, signed the plea agreement last week, court records show.
Sales occurred from January 2014 to February 2020, according to court records. During that same time frame, Modern Therapy distributed more than 150,000 units of anabolic steroids unlawfully, and garnished payments of more than $25 million as a result.
Customers would select the packages of anabolic steroids, HGH and related products they wanted to buy and Modern Therapy paid physicians to write prescriptions for the medications, according to court documents.
Physicians included one doctor who was licensed in Florida until March 2018, and one doctor who was not licensed in the state of Florida at all, and used the electronic signature of another doctor to sign the prescriptions, according to court records.
Both physicians did not conduct physical examinations of the customers, nor did they do virtual, telemedicine consultations, according to court records.
Once customer payment was received, the invalid prescriptions were filled at pharmacies and sent to the customer via FedEx. Court documents stated that invalid prescriptions for HGH were often filled at the Modern Therapy location, using HGH they purchased on the black market.
As part of the plea agreement between the clinic and federal prosecutors, the defendant will forfeit three properties in Florida, $9,568.87 seized from the Modern Therapy bank account, $34,587.20 seized from a bank account registered to Optimal MD Labs LCC, and $81,433.03 seized from a bank account in the name of Synergy Integrative Health and Wellness LLC.
The agreement also states the defendant agrees to forfeit $11,046,801.14, which represents the amount of money they obtained as a result of the conspiracy.
According to court documents, the statutory punishment is imprisonment for not more than 10 years, a fine of no more than $2,500,000, and a term of supervised release of not more than three years, but no less than two years.
The case is scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 5 at 3:30 p.m. in Frankfort.
This story was originally published June 29, 2022 at 10:32 AM.
