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Sixth Circuit Affirms Steep Sentence in FDC Act Counterfeiting Case

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a 90‑month prison term for Omar Wala, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to manufacture and distribute counterfeit generic alprazolam pills on the dark web. The court upheld the district court’s fraud loss calculation, using the street price of $2 per pill to arrive at a $32 million loss, and applied enhancements for ten or more victims and the risk of death or serious injury. The decision clarifies how federal sentencing guidelines will be applied in future drug‑counterfeiting prosecutions, especially when counterfeit drugs are sold on the black market. It also signals that manufacturers whose products are imitated may be counted as victims, though restitution to them was not ordered.