Indian doc gets 30 years in jail in US

A 29-year-old Indian doctor has been sentenced to 30 years in prison by a US court for illegally selling prescription pills, smuggled from India, through his massive Internet pharmacy network.

Akhil Bansal, who was an MBA student at Temple University in Philadelphia, operated a network that distributed 11 million prescription pills to 60,000 Americans.

"The evidence of your guilt is overwhelming, sir.... you distributed poison throughout the country," US District Judge Paul Diamond said.

The sentencing came 32 months after Bansal was arrested with a plane ticket to India following a two-year probe dubbed Operation Cyberchase. It was the US Drug Enforcement Administration's first-ever major investigation of its type.

Diamond said Bansal showed no remorse whatsoever and that it was impossible to believe a trained doctor would not know that the pills involved require a prescription.

Defense lawyer Paul J. Hetznecker told the judge that Bansal "has been demonized by his own stubbornness and apparent arrogance in the courtroom."

Hetzneicker said Bansal grew up in a strict family and did what he did to please his father. "Behind the arrogance is a tremendous amount of pain," he was quoted as saying by Philadelphia Inquirer. "I do see a humbled and scared individual."

Bansal has said he was looking forward to his appeal.

The Bansal family operated a wholesale network, supplying dozens of illegal online pharmacies, offering Viagra, sedatives and painkillers without a prescription. By shipping 75,000 pills a day from a New York safe house, the Bansals reaped roughly $8 million.

"This is a serious offense and calls for a serious sentence," said Assistant US Attorney Frank Costello. "Not once in this courtroom... Did he ever express harm that anyone could have been harmed by what he did," he said.

Noting that Bansal graduated from medical school in India, the prosecutor said, "I can't appreciate a person who would be more in a position of understanding his actions...."

Before sentencing, Bansal said, "Truly, in my heart, I believe I did not commit these serious charges."

Speaking softly in English, he said, "I am studying the law and I ask myself everyday, How did I end up here in this position without realizing what make me end up in this position?' ... What I have not lost is my belief in the justice system."

The investigation began in February 2003 at the Philadelphia international airport when a suspicious package was found to contain 120 tablets of generic Valium. The case took agents to Australia, Costa Rica and India.

In April 2005, authorities made 17 synchronised arrests in Philadelphia, New York, Florida and India where Bansal's father Brij and sister Julie were arrested. Authorities also seized bank accounts in 11 countries.

Most of those arrested, including Bansal's roommate Atul Patil, struck plea deals and received sentences of less than three years. Bansal, arguing that what he did was legal in India, and two others, risked trial. All three were convicted after two-month trials.

Fred Mullinix, who made more than $1 million creating websites that took orders and forwarded them to the Bansals, was sentenced to 12 years. Sanjeev Srivastav, Bansal's loyal friend and mentor since medical school in India, was sentenced to 15 years for his role in the conspiracy.