Pensacola Man Indicted For Counterfeit “viagra” Trafficking

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida announced that Robert P. Galea, 53, of Pensacola, Florida, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that he trafficked in counterfeit “Viagra” and fraudulently executed a scheme to deliver the misbranded pharmaceuticals through the United States Postal Service. 

Galea made his initial appearance in federal court on July 19, 2013, on ten counts of trafficking in counterfeit drugs, selling misbranded drugs, and mail fraud.  The Indictment alleges the counterfeit drugs were obtained from sources in other countries, including India.

A jury trial for Galea has been scheduled before the Honorable M. Casey Rodgers on September 9, 2013.  If found guilty of trafficking in counterfeit drugs or mail fraud, Galea faces up to twenty years in prison. 

The case was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David L. Goldberg of the Northern District of Florida.    

An Indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt.  All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial in a court of law.