U.S. Department of Justice R. Alexander Acosta United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida
	99 N.E. 4th Street Miami, FL 33132 (305) 961-9001

DOCTOR AND CO-DEFENDANT SENTENCED TO PRISON TERMS FOR
CONSPIRING TO DEFRAUD THE I.R.S.

R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Brian J. Wimpling, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Criminal Investigation, announced today that on June 23, 2005, defendants, Dr. Richard Allen Hill and Anthony Fusco, were sentenced by United States District Court Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Dr. Hill, a resident of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and a formerly licensed osteopathic physician in the State of Florida, was sentenced to twenty-one (21) months’ imprisonment, to be followed by two (2) years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $202,390 in restitution. Anthony Fusco, a resident of Lauderhill, Florida, was sentenced to twenty-one (21) months’ imprisonment, to be followed by three (3) years of supervised release. The sentencing proceeding for co-defendant Joseph Steinberg, of North Miami Beach, Florida, was adjourned due to health problems. A new sentencing date for Joseph Steinberg has not yet been scheduled.

Hill, Fusco and Steinberg were initially indicted on October 7, 2004. The nine (9) count Indictment charged them with conspiracy to defraud the United States by structuring financial transactions to avoid financial institution reporting requirements and obstructing the Internal Revenue Service in their computation of federal income taxes, in violation Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. On April 5, 2005, Hill, Steinberg and Fusco pleaded guilty to Count One (1) of the Indictment.

According to the Indictment, Hill was engaged in the wholesale distribution of prescription drugs. Steinberg was the president and then the chief financial officer of Ideal Marketing Concepts (“Ideal”), a company with offices in Plantation, Florida. Ideal was in the business of purchasing, selling, and transporting in interstate commerce prescription drugs, including Serostim, Neupogen, and Lupron. Fusco was Ideal’s chief financial officer and was primarily involved in the financial and banking operations of the company.

According to the Indictment, Steinberg would purchase prescription drugs from Hill and others, which he would resell to prescription drug wholesalers without disclosing to them the true source and chain of pedigree of these drugs. Moreover, from about July 1998 through May 2000, Hill, Fusco and Steinberg attempted to hide funds that they had received from the prescription drug wholesalers. Steinberg generated approximately $13,718,243 from the sale of these drugs to prescription drug wholesalers.

Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Neil Karadbil.

To report tax fraud, citizens can call the Internal Revenue Service tip line at 1-800-829-0433.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

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