Indian Man Gets 33 Months in Jail for Smuggling Drugs to U.S.

A resident of Mumbai was sentenced to two years and nine months of imprisonment by Pittsburgh district court for shipping misbranded prescription drugs from India for distribution in the United States to American consumers, PTI reported.

Ramesh Buchirajam Akkela aka Ramesh Bhai, who was detained in Panama in 2015 and was extradited to the United States on March 15 this year, was sentenced to 33-month jail term on March 16 after he was found guilty of mail fraud and money laundering. The sentencing was given by senior judge Donetta W Ambrose.

As per court records, Akkela had a website that offered prescription drugs to American consumers without the necessary prescription. He used to ship the misbranded drugs from India to people in the United States who would distribute them to consumers.

Assistant United States Attorney Shardul S Desai was the prosecution for the case,and represented the government.

Akkela was indicted on two counts of money laundering, 10 counts of mail fraud conspiracy to misbrand and smuggle drugs and conspiracy to import Schedule IV controlled substances.

Akkela’s brother had sought the help of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs to secure his brother’s release when he was held in Panama in 2015. He had tweeted: “I am Ramesh’s Brother. I am seeking help from Hon. MEA, GoI to secure release of Indian National Mr Ramesh Akkela illegally detained in Panama since 15.7.2015.”

Akkela’s wife Sarika Ramesh Akkela wrote about the entire ordeal on her blog in November 2015 in which she said that her husband had “all the necessary licenses to export the drugs and undertook all his business activities as per the Indian law without violating any of its provisions.” She also wrote that his firms were duly checked and verified by all the Indian authorities involved in the process of export.

She further wrote: “U.S authorities want the extradition of Ramesh Akkela on various counts, yet none of the count hold the ground since he was lawfully performing the business in India as per law of the land. Law and reasoning both state that. Ramesh Akkela, being national and resident of India has to perform his business activities as per Indian Law, which he has done.”

While Sarika’s application seeking the Ministry of External Affairs’s involvement was acknowledged, it’s not clear if an intervention was made on their behalf.

Application for #Justice4Ramesh submitted by Smt. Sarika Akkela has been duly acknowledged by @MEAIndia on 18 Nov. pic.twitter.com/zKg4DocI2L

— Justice 4 Ramesh (@justice4ramesh) December 2, 2015