SAN DIEGO
David and Sandra Perez marketed a medical devices an effective for use in cancer and AIDS cases. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration never approved the sale of the “Energy Wave” medical devices sold on the Internet.
Friday, the couple plead guilty in federal court to scheming with the manufacturer to hoodwink the sick and the desperate to buy these phony devices, according to officials.
David Perez is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 11.
U.S. Magistrate Judge William Gallo sentenced his wife to one year of probation, and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and pay restitution of $1,495 to a purchaser of the device.
During Friday’s hearing, Judge Gallo stated: “I believe you had to know at some level that this was junk science.”
David Perez admitted selling each device for approximately $1,200 to $1,500, and receiving gross proceeds of approximately $271,000.
According to their plea agreements, the couple marketed the Energy Wave device over the Internet from their home in Carlsbad.
They have since moved to Oregon. David Perez admitted scheming with the manufacturer of the devices, David Arthur, who marketed the “Energy Wave” device over the internet using the website www.myenergywave.com.
Arthur previously plead guilty and is awaiting sentencing.
According to court evidence and testimony, the Energy Wave device consists of a micro-current frequency generator with a digital readout, two stainless steel cylinders and two personal application plates with connectors and lead wire for the cylinders and plates.
Users were provided with an operating manual and a list of Auto Codes that set forth hundreds of digital settings for the device, directed to specific conditions from abdominal pain, AIDS and diabetes to stroke, ulcer and worms, according to authorities.
Officials said the Auto Codes and Manual advised users to connect the cylinders or plates to the machine and touch them to the body for a recommended run time to treat each condition.
David Perez had said he intended to defraud and mislead the FDA by attempting to evade the agency’s oversight of medical claims made regarding the Energy Wave device by maintaining a separate website to which he referred customers who needed to obtain the auto codes that allegedly were effective in treating the various medical conditions.
Sandra Perez admitted assisting her husband by shipping the “Energy Wave” devices and depositing the funds necessary to pay coconspirator David Arthur for the devices.
The couple admitted that they knew or should have known a number of their customers were vulnerable because they had purchased the device in an attempt to cure cancer, and that they were marketing the device without the proper FDA approvals, officials said.
“Those who are sick and desperate for relief are particularly vulnerable to scams, and we are doing our best to protect them from people who exploit the weak for their own financial gain,” said U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy.
“The FDA oversees approvals for medical devices to ensure that the public is protected from devices that are unsafe or ineffective,” said Lisa L. Malinowski, Special Agent in Charge, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations’ Los Angeles Field Office. “We will continue to commit our efforts to remove potentially dangerous medical devices from the U.S. marketplace.”