Costa Rican Sentenced to 33 Months in Prison for Fraud Scheme Involving Controlled Substances

PITTSBURGH - A resident of Costa Rica has been sentenced in federal court to 33 months with three years of supervised release on his conviction of mail fraud and money laundering, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.

Senior United States District Judge Donetta Ambrose imposed the sentence on Ramiro Navarro Quesada, 40, of San Jose, Costa Rica.

According to information presented to the court, Quesada used a Costa Rican website to advertise the Internet sale of Schedule II and Schedule IV controlled substances, which were exported from India and received in the United States.

Assistant United States Attorney Shardul S. Desai prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney Brady commended the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, the Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Quesada.