Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of Utah

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, April 6, 2021

SALT LAKE CITY – Daniel Kevin Richards, 37, of Sandy, Utah, was sentenced to three years of probation and a $10,000 fine in federal court on Monday after previously pleading guilty to  receiving misbranded chloroquine from China with the intent to sell the drug in the United States.

In the plea agreement, Richards admitted that, in April of 2020, he imported and received over 50 kilograms of misbranded and mislabeled chloroquine from China. Richards admitted that the chloroquine was falsely mislabeled as “Boswellia Serrata Extract” and that the drug was not manufactured and prepared by an establishment registered as a drug manufacturer with the Food and Drug Administration. Additionally, the labeling on the drugs failed to bear adequate directions for use as required by federal law. Richards has also been ordered to pay for the destruction of the drug by proper authorities with the United States Food and Drug Administration.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys in the Utah U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. Special Agents of the Food and Drug Administration- Office of Criminal Investigations, the FBI, and investigators from the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office conducted the investigation.

Topic(s):
Consumer Protection
Component(s):
USAO - Utah