PHILADELPHIA, PA — A Florida-based veterinary drug supplier was sentenced in federal court after admitting it illegally funneled huge quantities of the powerful sedative xylazine into the interstate market, a pipeline that prosecutors say helped feed the drug’s deadly spread into Philadelphia’s illicit opioid supply.
U.S. Attorney David Metcalf announced that All Veterinary Supply Inc., of Doral, Florida, pleaded guilty to one count of introducing and delivering misbranded drugs into interstate commerce. U.S. District Judge Mark A. Kearney sentenced the company to three years of probation, imposed an $18,000 criminal fine, and ordered the forfeiture of $748,507.25, representing the company’s approximate gross profits from the illegal sales.
The case centers on xylazine, a powerful animal tranquilizer approved only for veterinary use in the United States but increasingly found mixed into street drugs and linked to a surge in overdose deaths. Often referred to as “tranq,” the drug intensifies the effects of fentanyl and can cause severe soft tissue injuries, including tissue necrosis, even when used on its own.
Federal prosecutors said AVS was charged last August after investigators discovered it had been distributing xylazine well beyond the limits of its state permit, which did not authorize the company to sell drugs to other wholesalers.
According to court filings, the company sold roughly 180,993 bottles of xylazine to two primary wholesale customers in Puerto Rico in violation of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Some of that xylazine ultimately made its way into the illegal drug supply in Philadelphia, authorities said.
The case was investigated by the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony D. Scicchitano and Bryan C. Hughes, along with Justice Department trial attorneys Steven R. Scott and Brett Ruff, former DOJ trial attorney Michael Wadden, and contract investigator Michael Sullivan.
Federal officials said the outcome sends a warning to companies that abuse the legal pharmaceutical supply chain.
By forcing AVS to forfeit nearly three-quarters of a million dollars in illicit profits, prosecutors said the sentence is meant to strip financial incentives from the trafficking of dangerous substances that fuel the nation’s overdose crisis.
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