TAMPA — A Bradenton businessman made more than $1.1 million while smuggling thousands of knockoff Viagra and Cialis pills into the Tampa Bay area from China, federal authorities charge.
Now the romance is over, and instead of a beachside bathtub, he’s facing possible prison time.
Robert Ernest Lohr, 72, isn’t a pharmacist, and his Bradenton shop isn’t licensed as a pharmacy. That didn’t stop him from accepting prescriptions and filling them with unapproved drugs, according to a signed plea agreement filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Tampa.
His website promised to improve lives “one little blue pill at a time,” offering the two brand-name erectile dysfunction pills at discount rates of less than $6 each. He also advertised prescription drugs for cholesterol, high blood pressure, depression and acid reflux.
Government chemists found that his counterfeits contained the same active ingredients found in Viagra and Cialis — sildenafil citrate or tadalafil — but not in a manner consistent with the authentic products.
