A New York aesthetician was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly shopping for counterfeit Botox from China and injecting it into sufferers, with out the required license, in response to the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace within the Southern District of New York.
Joey Grant Luther, 54, was charged with wire fraud, smuggling, and different crimes associated to the acquisition and import of misbranded and counterfeit medication at his medical spa, JGL Aesthetics, situated in New York Metropolis’s Hell’s Kitchen. Not one of the Botox was authorised by the Meals and Drug Administration, prosecutors stated.
“As alleged, Joey Grant Luther, who doesn’t possess the licensing required by New York State to carry out injections of Botox, knowingly bought counterfeit Botox from China, injected it into his purchasers, and represented that the counterfeit Botox that he was peddling was real,” U.S. Legal professional Danielle Sassoon stated in a statement.
Contents of the parcel—together with the outside of cartons of Counterfeit Botox, seized by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol between April 2023 and January 2024.
DOJ Southern District of New York
Luther allegedly continued to buy and inject the counterfeit Botox regardless of figuring out purchasers had fallen unwell or skilled unusual signs, Sassoon stated. He allegedly reassured his sufferers that any negative effects had been short-term and that the Botox was from Allergan, the veritable maker, in response to prosecutors.
“Luther’s disregard for the well being of his purchasers put all of his victims in hurt’s manner and, in some instances, induced life-threating accidents,” Sassoon stated.
In accordance with the felony grievance, an investigation started after one in every of Luther’s sufferers stated they skilled double imaginative and prescient, coronary heart palpitations, weak spot from the waist up and different issues after receiving a Botox injection from JGL Aesthetics. The sufferer visited three hospitals to deal with the signs and was identified with Botulism toxin in March 2024, prosecutors stated.
Customs and Border Safety intercepted parcels meant for JGL Aesthetics, discovering one which contained “important portions of counterfeit medication, together with counterfeit Botox,” in response to prosecutors.
Luther was scheduled to be offered late Wednesday earlier than U.S. Justice of the Peace Choose Sarah Cave. If convicted, he may withstand 20 years in jail.
It’s unclear if Luther has an lawyer who can communicate on his behalf.
The case comes after the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, alongside the FDA, opened an investigation final 12 months after 19 individuals throughout 9 states skilled adverse negative effects after receiving counterfeit Botox injections.
