A New York man, John Cruz, admitted in a St. Louis court to continuing the sale of counterfeit Xanax on the dark web while out on bond for a previous guilty plea on similar charges. Cruz, 31, from Rochester, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to misbrand and sell counterfeit drugs.
Cruz initially pleaded guilty on November 29, 2023, admitting to purchasing and reselling counterfeit Xanax from October 2019 through May 2021. Despite his earlier plea and being released on bond, Cruz continued these activities by operating a darknet website offering various counterfeit pills. An FBI Special Agent made undercover purchases using cryptocurrency.
In a related investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service made an undercover purchase from Jared James, Cruz's co-defendant. On April 9, 2024, investigators searched James' home and found pills in four colors after observing him mailing packages containing about 1,000 counterfeit pills each to multiple locations across the United States.
Authorities seized $145,502 from an account held by Cruz in Monero cryptocurrency as proceeds from illegal sales. Cruz is set for sentencing on October 7 and faces up to five years in prison per count and fines up to $250,000.
Jared James was sentenced in May to 32 months in prison after pleading guilty to similar charges. The case involved investigations by the FBI, DEA, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and ICE with prosecution led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Ware and Kyle Bateman.
