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Two Indicted In Internet Drug-Sales Scheme

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Tampa Tribune

Published: December 21, 2007

TAMPA - Two men accused of selling hydrocodone over the Internet were indicted by the U.S. Attorney's Office on Friday.

Dr. Juan Antonio Ibanez, 59, of Orlando, and Barry Robert Brooks, 39, of Celebration, each face 92 counts of money laundering and drug trafficking, said U.S. Attorney Robert E. O'Neill of the Middle District of Florida.

According to the indictment, Ibanez and Brooks conspired to distribute and dispense Vicodin or Lortab - forms of the painkiller hydrocodone - over Internet clinic Web sites based on orders that appeared to be prescriptions.

Customers who logged on to the Web sites would fill out brief questionnaires about their medical history, select the type and dosage of hydrocodone and submit medical records that reportedly documented their medical condition and need. Physicians recruited by Ibanez and Brooks to review records submitted on the Web sites did not take an adequate medical history nor perform thorough examinations of the customers, O'Neill said.

Several pharmacies in Tampa and elsewhere filled the phony prescriptions, O'Neill said. Ibanez and Brooks raked in more than $85 million during the four years the Web clinics were in operation, authorities said. The investigation is ongoing.

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