For Shooting Gun in Air 71-Year-Old Man with 65 IQ Up Asks 18 Months on April 14

Man Who Sold Expensive Pharma to the Community Wants 2 Years on April 15 by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack SDNY COURTHOUSE, April 13 –   A man who pled guilty to fraudulently obtaining sophisticated pharmaceuticals and reselling them to "the community" is up for sentencing on April 15. His Federal Defender, citing crystal meth and a disease repeatedly redacted, is asking for a 24 month sentencing, below the 70 to 87 month guideline.   The defense memo describes a (very) difficult childhood, a two year period of sex work ending in a redacted diagnosis, and a previous conviction for identity theft and health care fraud.  It says that the more than $2 million loss amount was not to patients or medical providers, but rather insurance companies and co-pay programs. The sentencing is by U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, whose proceedings from Charlie Javice to Nicolas Maduro Inner City Press often covers.    The case is USA v. Torres, 1:25-cr-560 (Vargas) *** Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material / documents on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron. And/or join on Substack here, for Extra like on X for Subscribers Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com Mail: Box 130222, Chinatown Station, NY NY 10013 Reporter's mobile (and weekends): 718-716-3540 Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.  Copyright 2006-2026 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com