Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney's Office
Western District of Tennessee

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 18, 2023

Memphis, TN – A federal judge has sentenced a Texas man to more than 17 years in prison for his involvement in a counterfeit prescription drug distribution operation. Kevin Olando Ombisi, 34, of Katy, Texas, has been sentenced to 210 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and related offenses. U.S. District Court Judge Mark S. Norris also ordered Ombisi to serve three years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term.

There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Kevin G. Ritz of the Western District of Tennessee made the announcement today along with Acting Assistant United States Attorney Nicole M. Argentieri of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge J. Todd Scott of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Louisville Field Division; Special Agent in Charge Charles L. Grinstead of the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigation (FDA-OCI) Kansas City Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Francisco B. Burrola of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) El Paso Division; and Inspector in Charge Scott Fix of the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Houston Division.
 
According to information presented in court, Ombisi used a marketplace on the Darknet and an encrypted messaging service called Wickr to sell pills made to resemble Adderall in exchange for bitcoin cryptocurrency. The pills that Ombisi distributed were not Adderall; instead, they contained methamphetamine. He mailed the methamphetamine pills through the U.S. Postal Service.

In July 2023, Ombisi pled guilty to charges filed in a ten-count superseding indictment, including one count of conspiracy to unlawfully distribute controlled substances, three counts of unlawful distribution, one count of attempted distribution, one count of selling counterfeit drugs, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and three counts of mail fraud.

This case was investigated by the federal partners with assistance from police departments in Katy, Texas; Houston, Texas; and Missouri City, Texas.

United States Attorney Kevin Ritz thanked Assistant Chief Jillian Willis of the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Kimbril-Parks, who prosecuted this case, as well as law enforcement partners who investigated the case.

Contact
For more information, please contact Public Affairs Specialist Tiffany Thomas-Turner at (901) 544-4231 or Tiffany.Turner@usdoj.gov. Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Facebook or on Twitter at @WDTNNews for office news and updates.

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