PITTSBURGH Man pleads guilty to drug-records lapse

Prosecutors said he had no records showing what happened to millions of capsules.
PITTSBURGH -- A Boardman man has pleaded guilty to a charge of violating federal drug laws by failing to keep records on a chemical that can be used to make methamphetamine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn J. Bloch said Fadi Zahran, 39, of Angiline Drive, Boardman, didn't keep records on pseudoephedrine that he sold from a wholesale food and chemical products distribution business known as Maxx II located at 910 N. Robertson Road, Hermitage.
Pleads guilty
Zahran entered his guilty plea Thursday before U.S. District Judge William L. Standish.
He will be sentenced July 18, and could face up to one year in prison and a fine of $25,000.
Bloch said Zahran is the owner and operator of Maxx II and was registered by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration on March 19, 1999, to distribute certain chemicals.
Zahran was required to keep records, for review by the DEA, detailing the distributions of those chemicals.
She said Zahran is accused of failing to keep records detailing the sales of millions of capsules containing pseudoephedrine, a legal but controlled drug used in various cold and flu medications to relieve nasal, sinus and ear congestion.
Pseudoephedrine is also commonly used in the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine, Bloch said.
He failed to keep records on his pseudoephedrine sales between October 1999 through February 2000, she said.
Zahran was freed on bond pending sentencing. As part of his plea, he was required to give up his registration with the DEA and is no longer allowed to buy and sell controlled chemicals.