A New York man has admitted to continuing the sale of counterfeit Xanax on the dark web while out on bond for a similar offense. John Cruz, 31, from Rochester, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of conspiracy related to misbranding and selling counterfeit drugs.
Cruz had previously pleaded guilty on November 29, 2023, to purchasing and reselling counterfeit Xanax from at least October 2019 through May 2021. Despite his prior plea, Cruz continued his illegal activities by operating a darknet website offering various types of counterfeit pills. An FBI Special Agent made several undercover purchases using cryptocurrency during this period.
The investigation also involved an undercover purchase by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service from Jared James, Cruz’s co-defendant. On April 9, 2024, investigators searched James’ home and found pills in four colors after observing him mailing packages containing about 1,000 counterfeit or misbranded pills each to multiple locations across the United States.
Authorities seized $145,502 from a Monero cryptocurrency account belonging to Cruz, believed to be proceeds from his illegal sales. Cruz is scheduled for sentencing on October 7 and faces up to five years in prison per count and fines up to $250,000.
Jared James was sentenced in May to 32 months in prison after pleading guilty to the same charge as Cruz.
The case was investigated by several agencies including the FBI, DEA, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and ICE with prosecution led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Ware and Kyle Bateman.
