MACON — Michael J. Moore, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia announced R. Wayne Murphy, 63, and J. Kevin Murphy, 36, father and son pharmacists from Boston, Ga., were sentenced by the Honorable Hugh Lawson, United States District Judge in Valdosta.

Wayne Murphy was sentenced to 36 months imprisonment and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine for introducing adulterated and misbranded drugs into interstate commerce. Kevin Murphy was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute hydrocodone. They also agreed to forfeit $403,496.63 in illegal proceeds.

The investigation in this case revealed two criminal schemes had taken place at Boston Pharmacy in Boston, Ga., where the Murphys were pharmacists. In the first scheme, Wayne Murphy obtained prescription drugs such as Advair, Crestor and Plavix in Costa Rica, smuggled them into the United States, repackaged them in Boston Pharmacy bottles with preexisting labels, and sold them to his customers for a profit.

“As a pharmacist, Wayne Murphy occupied a unique position of trust in his community,” said U.S. Attorney Moore. “Instead of honoring that trust, Wayne Murphy defrauded his customers and put them at risk for simple gain. He will now pay the price for that choice.”

In the second scheme, Kevin Murphy legally purchased large quantities of controlled substances, including hydrocodone and Xanax, from wholesale drug companies and then sold them illegally to drug dealers at a steep profit. From May through November 2009, Kevin Murphy admitted the amount of illegal drugs attributable to him was 57,393 hydrocodone pills and 4,000 Xanax pills.

“Instead of providing drugs to people with prescriptions, Kevin Murphy sold them to a drug dealer for resale on the streets,” said Moore. “If you sell drugs illegally in the Middle District of Georgia, wearing a lab coat will not save you from justice.”

In being sentenced to prison, the father and son join two other individuals who previously pled guilty to felonies arising from the criminal conduct at Boston Pharmacy. On June 10, 2014, Arnolfo Capistran pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute Xanax for his role in Kevin Murphy’s scheme to resell controlled substances. Karen Dunlap, another former pharmacist at Boston Pharmacy, pled guilty to misprision (concealment of knowledge) of a felony on May 5, 2014.

“Due to the diligence of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, a complicated case involving multiple local, state and federal agencies has been brought to fruition,” said C. Richard Allen, director of the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency. “These convictions should send a message across both Georgia and Florida that just because you have a pharmacy license, you do not have the right to unlawfully sell prescription drugs of any kind.”

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency, the Thomas County Narcotics and Vice Division, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations. Assistant United States Attorney Peter Leary is handling the prosecution for the Government.