A man holding dual Lebanese and Italian nationality, Alessandro Sabbagh, has been sentenced to a six-and-a-half-year prison term. U.S. District Judge Robert Wier issued this sentence on Friday following Sabbagh's conviction for conspiracy to distribute counterfeit drugs and knowingly causing the sale of such substances.
The case stems from activities conducted by Sabbagh and his associates between January 2017 and October 2021. They were involved in the unauthorized production and sale of fake alprazolam pills. The counterfeit drugs were distributed both within Kentucky and across the United States using darknet marketplaces, with payments received in cryptocurrencies. Original alprazolam is a medication within the benzodiazepine class that is controlled due to its legitimate medical uses. The defendants' synthetic version did not meet the medical use criteria in the U.S.
Sabbagh played a significant role in managing several vendor accounts across multiple darknet platforms, processing customer orders, and coordinating the shipping of these counterfeit drugs. The operation led to trafficking that surpassed $25 million in value.
Federal law dictates that Sabbagh must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence. Post-release, he will be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for three years. Additionally, Sabbagh is required to forfeit cryptocurrencies seized by the DEA, along with a money judgment of over $5 million, reflecting his earnings from the illegal endeavor.
The judgement results from a collaborative investigation spearheaded by the DEA, IRS, FBI, and the Manchester Police Department. These entities announced the outcome jointly, with Paul McCaffrey, Acting United States Attorney for Eastern Kentucky, among the officials responsible for the case's prosecution.
The prosecutorial efforts were led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Rosenberg.