Two Miami residents, Boris Arencibia and Jose Armando Rivera Garcia, have been sentenced to 57 months in federal prison each for their involvement in two schemes related to the sale of diverted and misbranded pharmaceuticals. The sentencing took place on October 30.
Court documents show that Arencibia, 52, and Rivera Garcia, 45, acquired expensive prescription drugs from illegal sources. These included patients who sold their prescribed medications instead of using them and individuals who obtained prescriptions fraudulently. The drugs required specific storage conditions but were kept without proper safeguards.
“Diverted drugs put patients’ lives at risk,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “These defendants pushed tainted and repackaged medications into pharmacies across the country, knowing full well the danger. Our Office will continue to work with FDA, HHS-OIG, and the FBI to protect patients and hold accountable anyone who turns the healthcare system into a criminal marketplace.”
After purchasing these medicines, members of the conspiracy repackaged them and falsified paperwork to make it appear as if they came directly from manufacturers or legitimate wholesalers. They then marketed these drugs through fake pharmaceutical distribution companies and shipped them nationwide to pharmacies where unsuspecting patients bought them. Some bottles contained incorrect substances such as vitamins or pebbles.
The first case was indicted in 2019 and involved a conspiracy with 20 defendants; all but one fugitive have now received prison sentences ranging from 30 months to 14 years. Arencibia sourced large amounts of diverted drugs from street suppliers before selling them within the group. Rivera Garcia set up LDD Distributors to receive these products from Arencibia and sell them onward through another distributor operated by a co-conspirator. Both men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering by using financial transactions to hide proceeds from sales of misbranded drugs.
A second case filed in 2025 charged both men with operating a wholesale company that distributed diverted pharmaceuticals using false documentation about their origin and condition. They pleaded guilty to trafficking medical products with falsified documentation.
Combined sales from both schemes totaled approximately $28 million worth of diverted pharmaceuticals.
U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles sentenced both defendants in the 2019 case; those terms will run concurrently with separate sentences of 43 months imposed in connection with the 2025 case.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida; Acting Special Agent in Charge Kelly McCoy (FDA-OCI), Acting Special Agent in Charge Jesus Barranco (HHS-OIG), and Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles (FBI Miami). Investigations were conducted by FDA-OCI, FBI Miami for the earlier case, and HHS-OIG for the later one.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Tamen prosecuted the first case while Trial Attorney Jacqueline Zee DerOvanesian handled prosecution for the second; Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Grosnoff is managing asset forfeiture matters.
Further details can be found at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case numbers 19-cr-20674 and 25-cr-20154.
