DNP Distributor Gets Prison for Selling Deadly Diet Pills
In recent legal news, a DNP distributor was sentenced to prison for selling the deadly diet pill to consumers. Barry Clint Wright used to run a website called CrystalDNP.com, which he used to reach consumers who would purchase the diet pill DNP. Wright was accused of using deceptive marketing strategies for DNP, which included mislabeling the drug and selling it on websites for candles and bee pollen. Like a lot of unapproved weight loss supplements, the DNP pills posed significant health risks for users: multiple people died after consuming the pills sold by Wright. As a result, Wright eventually pleaded guilty to the criminal charges and was sentenced to a term of incarceration of seven (7) years.
California consumer fraud lawyer Robert Tauler provided commentary on the Barry Clint Wright criminal case, which can be viewed here.
DNP Is a Deadly Weight Loss Drug
DNP is a chemical substance also known as 2,4-Dinitrophenol. When ingested, DNP can have severe health consequences for users, including cataracts, cardiac arrhythmia, and even death. In fact, DNP is considered so dangerous that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has declared it to be “extremely dangerous” and “not fit for human consumption.” In this way, DNP is similar to other nutritional and weight loss supplements that can cause adverse health effects. Additionally, when companies sell unapproved supplements for use by consumers, the companies may be both criminally and civilly liable.
Although there are some people like Barry Clint Wright who have claimed that DNP is not dangerous for consumption, those people are wrong. The evidence on DNP is clear: the drug is extremely unsafe and poses significant health risks to consumers, which is why the FDA has made it illegal to market, sell, or otherwise distribute the weight loss drug.
Companies that violate the law by deceptively marketing DNP and then selling it as a dietary supplement may be exposed to civil liability. The experienced consumer fraud lawyers at Tauler Smith LLP help plaintiffs file nutritional supplement lawsuits in courtrooms throughout the country.
Barry Clint Wright Sentenced to Prison for Selling DNP to Consumers
Barry Clint Wright was recently sentenced to seven (7) years in prison for selling DNP as a weight loss drug. Wright was criminally indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, a federal court with jurisdiction in the case. The crimes that Wright was indicted for related to the sale of DNP and how he marketed the weight loss drug to consumers. He later reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, in which he admitted his guilt.
What makes this case so interesting is that the federal government sought an enhancement of the federal sentencing guidelines. In this case, prosecutors wanted the judge to issue a sentence longer than what the guidelines called for. They did this because the way that Wright marketed DNP was particularly egregious and exposed consumers to significant health risks. The government said that Wright failed to label the product accurately, and he also sold it on multiple websites. Moreover, the government said that three (3) customers died after using the DNP – with the possibility that more customers may have died. Beyond that, Wright was accused of using “sophisticated tactics” to ensure that the dangerous diet pill would go unregulated. (E.g., he sold the DNP on a candle website and asked customers to claim that they were buying candles.)
The federal judge ultimately agreed with prosecutors and sentenced Barry Clint Wright to the maximum statutory sentence of seven (7) years in prison.
Contact the California Dietary Supplement Lawyers at Tauler Smith LLP
DNP has dangerous side effects, and the people who mislabel DNP and sell it as a weight loss pill are engaging in criminal activity. If you purchased DNP for use as a diet pill, you may be eligible to file a civil suit against the manufacturer or distributor. Call or send an email to the California dietary supplement lawyers at Tauler Smith LLP today.
