A Chinese company and its chief executive have agreed to plead guilty to federal charges of illegally selling human growth hormone and will pay a total $7.5 million.
Lei Jin and his company, Genescience Pharmaceutical Co., were scheduled to enter the guilty pleas and be sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Providence, R.I. The company has agreed to plead to a felony and Jin to a misdemeanor, according to court documents.
Genescience Pharmaceutical sold the drug under the brand name Jintropin without approval from the Food and Drug Administration. The firm was charged in 2007 during a massive crackdown on illegal sports doping, dubbed Operation Raw Deal, in which 120 people were arrested, and 11.4 million doses of drugs were seized.
The investigation crippled the company, which the government believes is responsible for nearly 90 percent of the illegal human growth hormone found in the United States, said Jason Simonian, a special agent with the Food and Drug Administration. Investigators used wire transfers and e-mails from the company to track shipments across the world, Simonian said.
"We've vertically taken out every step of the process," Simonian said. "It shows the bad guys that no matter where they are in the world, we have the ability to reach out and take their money, and I think that's one of the most significant parts of the case."
As part of the plea agreement, the company and the executive will forfeit $4.5 million and set up a $3 million fund that will work against doping in sports by providing grants for education and scientific research. The fund will be administered by the Rhode Island Foundation.
Lawyers for the company and for Jin did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
The FDA closely regulates the use of human growth hormone, allowing it to be prescribed for certain medical conditions but not for anti-aging, bodybuilding or weight loss.
Jintropin is widely used to build muscle mass and, in 2007, actor Sylvester Stallone was convicted of importing dozens of vials of the drug into Australia. He later defended its use.
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