Georgians charged in Net drug scheme

An Atlanta-area company and four Georgia men have pleaded guilty to conspiring to import unauthorized prescription drugs from Central America and selling them on the Internet, taking in millions of dollars. The pleas entered Friday in federal court are the latest stemming from the indictment of 11 people and Norcross-based Hi-Tech Phamarceuticals Inc. in September 2006. Two North Carolina men admitted their roles in February 2007. All defendants pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud and importation and distribution of adulterated, unapproved, and mislabeled drugs. Other defendants were from South Dakota and Belize, where
prosecutors said generic versions of pharmaceuticals such as Xanax, Valium, Ambien, Vioxx, Zoloft, Viagra, and Cialis were manufactured in what essentially was a four-room house.

(Associated Press)