Pharmacist receives 3-year prison sentence for distributing illegal human growth hormone from China

A pharmacist in Colorado Springs, Colorado, was sentenced Friday to serve 40 months in federal prison on 27 counts of illegal importation and distribution of Chinese-manufactured human growth hormone (HGH) and conspiracy to distribute testosterone, an anabolic steroid. Twenty-three counts were for sales of HGH to minors. 

HGH is secreted by the pituitary gland and promotes growth during childhood and adolescence. It is marketed as an "anti-aging medicine."

Thomas Bader, a licensed pharmacist and former owner and operator of College Pharmacy in Colorado Springs, faced two federal indictments, one August 2007 and the second in September 2008. 

Bader was not fined in addition to his prison sentence. Instead, U.S. District Court Judge Marcia S. Krieger ordered the forfeiture of  $4.8 million in assets and the pharmacy building.

The case was investigated by the Office of Criminal Investigations of the Food and Drug Administration, and it was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jaime Peña, Greg Rhodes, Tonya Andrews and James Russell, according to an FDA press release.