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TALLAHASSEE - Attorney General Charlie Crist today announced the arrest of a South Florida resident on three charges related to his alleged involvement in an interstate prescription drug operation with purchases totaling more than $100,000. Dennys Astorga, 31, of Miami, is accused of facilitating the sale of prescription drugs with fake pedigrees, including medication intended for cancer patients. Without a valid pedigree, which guarantees that a drug is authentic and has been properly stored, a drug cannot be legally sold in Florida.

According to the arrest affidavit, Astorga allegedly facilitated transactions between a Texas prescription drug wholesaling operation using the name of San Antonio Health Group, and Florida-based drug distributor AMERx. Between April and August 2002, Astorga allegedly delivered drug orders and the paperwork accompanying them to AMERx's Ft. Lauderdale headquarters. Astorga is also charged with collecting payment on products that the company claimed to have been Aciphex, Combivir, Crixivan, Diflucan, Epivir, Lamisil, Lovenox, Neupogen, Neurontin, Procardia, Procrit, Serostim, Serzone, Sustiva, Trizivir, Videx, Vioxx, Viracept, Viramune, Zerit, Zyprexa, Ziagen and Zocor.

"The illegal sale of prescription drugs within Florida is a dangerous criminal act," said Crist. "Some of these patients involved, including those being treated for cancer, may have been denied relief, or worse – harmed – by the illegal drugs. Shutting down this operation is an important step forward for public health."

In October 2003, the Attorney General's Office began investigating San Antonio Health Group's prescription drug wholesaling operation when the Texas Department of State listed the company's president and registered agent at a Miami address, but was unknown at this location. It was found that San Antonio Health Group was not licensed to wholesale drugs in Florida and the business address it claimed was nothing more than an empty "virtual office." Authorities located a North Florida resident with the same name listed as the company's president and agent, but this individual was later found to have no connection to the operation and is considered to be a victim of identity theft.

An examination of the transaction records listed a New Hampshire-based drug wholesaler with a Florida license as the intermediary in the transactions. This gave the appearance that AMERx had purchased the items from a licensed Florida wholesaler rather than from the unlicensed Texas company. The owner allegedly assisted with the dealings between AMERx and San Antonio Health Group through the use of his Florida license for a fee.

Astorga is charged with one count of organized fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit organized fraud and one count of first-degree grand theft. The combined counts could bring up to a 75-year prison sentence and $30,000 in fines. The arrest was conducted by the Miami-Dade Police Department. Astorga is being held on a $500,000 bond at the Broward County Jail.

The case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General's Office of Statewide Prosecution.