RHODE ISLAND
A federal judge sentenced Tayfun Karauzum, 45, of Newport Beach, California, to five years in prison for making and distributing “Potion 9,” a product containing butanediol, an industrial solvent that rapidly metabolizes into gammahydroxybutyric acid (GHB) – commonly referred to as a “club drug” or “date rape drug,” official announced today.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith also ordered Karauzum to serve three years supervised release upon completion of his prison term.
Karauzum plead guilty on Jan. 30 to one count of conspiracy to misbrand a product for human consumption and one count of money laundering, officials said.
Karauzum was the owner of Max American Distribution LLC in Newport Beach made between $1 million and $2.5 million worth of Potion 9 through online sales and dietary supplement companies, officials said.
Officials said Karauzum provided to a lab the ingredients for the manufacture of his Potion 9, including unlabeled containers of butanediol, which Karauzum claimed to be a proprietary ingredient.
Karauzum also provided labels for the packaging of Potion 9, which did not list butanediol as an ingredient, according to authorities.
Authorities stated that Karauzum marketed Potion 9 as a “mood enhancer” that “may improve stamina and energy, promote a feeling of well-being, produce euphoria, [and] increase intensity of orgasms.”
The investigation indicated that Karauzum made available for distribution nearly 13.5 million milliliters of the misbranded product Potion 9.
The investigation also determined that Karauzum routinely transferred proceeds from the sale of Potion 9 sales in increments in excess of $10,000 from his business’ PayPal account into a personal bank account.
“The misbranding of drugs is an ongoing and increasing threat to public safety in general,” said U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha. “Here, the defendant’s criminal conduct was particularly egregious. He misbranded not just any drug, but an incredibly dangerous one, one used to victimize unsuspecting innocent people, on an enormous scale. The lengthy prison sentence he has received is well-deserved.”