14 DAY TRIAL // Doctor Armando Angulo has been prosecuted in Iowa in one of the biggest Internet pharmacy busts the US has seen.
The federal authorities had to release him, not because he proved innocent, but because stockpiling 400,000 documents and two terabytes of electronic data became counter-productive.
The doctor has fled to Panama, a country that has signed an extradition treaty with the US. However, a spokesperson for the Panamanian Embassy in Washington told the HuffingtonPost that no extradition petition was filed. The American Government knows the whereabouts of the fugitive, they just don't want him back.
After a raid of the Union Family Pharmacy in Dubuque, Iowa, in 2003, federal officers found evidence of medication being supplied to 2 Internet companies – Pharmacom and Medical Web Services.
Throughout their websites, 30 million pills were sold to customers without any previous examination. This brought the pharmacies millions of dollars in revenue, of which only $7 million were recovered.
Angulo was put under investigation in 2004 and indicted in 2007 in relation to this case. His license to practice medicine was revoked after evidence had showed he was responsible for prescribing drugs such as pain pills or diet medication.
"In excessive quantities and without medical justification," the drugs are known to cause addiction in some cases.
This August, however, the prosecution requested a dismissal of all charges. The 9-year pursuit had brought about so much data, that it was flooding government servers.
U.S. District Judge Linda Reade ruled to dismiss after the electronic evidence that was gathered against the suspect took up 5 percent of the DEA's worldwide electronic storage.
59-year-old Angulo is still listed on the most wanted list in Florida, where state authorities have searched him for fraud and narcotics charges.
He cannot return to the US, but it's safe to say that he didn't even need to defend himself, the state did the work for him this time.