Two men from Northeast Ohio were charged in federal court for their roles in a conspiracy in which one stole bottles of Viagra and Cialis and the other sold the pills on the street, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and Stephen D. Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Cleveland Office.

Mahmoud Mustafa, 63, of Lakewood, and Zacresha Jackson, 39, of South Euclid, were charged with conspiracy to distribute misbranded pharmaceuticals.

Jackson was employed as a pharmacy technician in the retail pharmacy of the Taussig Cancer Center at the Cleveland Clinic. Jackson agreed to steal bottles of Viagra and Cialis pills from the pharmacy and sell them to Mustafa. Mustafa then re-sold the pills, according to the information.

Consumers purchased the pills without a prescription, without being required to consult a physician, and without receiving proper notice of the risks associated with taking these prescription medications, according to the information.

If convicted, each defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to his case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense, and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.

This case is prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew B. Kall and Justin Seabury Gould, following an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

An information is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.