All Veterinary Supply, Inc. (AVS), a veterinary supply company based in Doral, Florida, has pleaded guilty to one count of introducing and delivering misbranded drugs into interstate commerce. The sentencing took place in Philadelphia before United States District Judge Mark A. Kearney. AVS was sentenced to three years of probation, fined $18,000, and ordered to forfeit $748,507.25—the amount the company made from the illegal sales.
The charges stemmed from AVS’s distribution of xylazine outside the scope of its state permit. The company was not authorized to sell drugs to other wholesalers but did so regardless.
Xylazine is approved only for veterinary use in the United States but has increasingly been found in illegal drug supplies and associated with overdose deaths. Known as “tranq,” it poses significant risks when mixed with fentanyl and can cause severe side effects on its own, such as soft tissue necrosis among people who inject it.
According to government court filings, AVS sold about 180,993 bottles of xylazine to two primary wholesaling customers in Puerto Rico. This violated the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and contributed to xylazine entering the illicit drug market in Philadelphia.
“This case was investigated by the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations, with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration,” said U.S. Attorney David Metcalf. “It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Anthony D. Scicchitano and Bryan C. Hughes, with Department of Justice Trial Attorneys Steven R. Scott and Brett Ruff of the Civil Division’s Enforcement & Affirmative Litigation Branch, former DOJ Trial Attorney Michael Wadden, and EDPA contract investigator Michael Sullivan.”
