Man sentenced for selling erectile dysfunction drugs as herbal supplements
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OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (KCTV/KSMO) — You might have been to a bachelor party or 50th birthday where someone gets a gag gift of “performance enhancing” pills and assume the worst-case scenario is they do nothing.
For years, a local man has been stocking the shelves of adult stores with supposed herbal supplements that actually had the punch of prescription drugs like Viagra.
60-year-old Rick Shepard pleaded guilty and got five years probation. It appears it was a profitable enterprise, because a forfeiture order was issued in excess of $1.6 million from the scheme, which operated from 2013-2018.
Court documents say Shepard has his production line, so to speak, in the basement of his home in Overland Park. That’s where he would divvy up the prescription erectile dysfunction drugs into three- and 12-pack bottles or blister packs and add his herbal remedy label.
He called his company, “Epic Products” and called the supplements “Euphoric.” Court documents say he ordered wholesale shipments from China.
The drugs? Tadalafil and Sildenafil, known by the brand names Cialis and Viagra. He packaged them as “all-natural herbal supplements for male enhancement” and sold them to adult novelty stores in Kansas, Missouri and Colorado.
It’s not a laughing matter because these are prescription drugs that can have dangerous interactions with other drugs, which is why you would be seeing a doctor if you knew what they were.
Fortunately, the US Attorney’s Office says, they aren’t aware of anyone having any adverse reaction. They say the judge considered that, Shepard’s eventual admission of guilt and lack of criminal record in deciding not to give him any prison time.
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