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Owner of Latino stores to be deported
By Sarah St. John,The Olathe News

An Olathe man who owns a string of Latino grocery stores will be deported to Mexico and forced to pay $18,000 as punishment for selling illegal medicine in his stores.

Samuel Morones-Perales, 38, owns Latino Y Punto stores in Kansas and Missouri. The Olathe location is at 217 S. Kansas Ave.

Morones-Perales, an illegal immigrant, was charged in U.S. District Court on June 6 with introduction of an unapproved new drug into interstate commerce, misbranding drugs and receiving drugs that were labeled in Spanish, not English, which is a violation of the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

He was sentenced in federal court Monday.

“Within 30 days, Samuel Morones-Perales must leave the United States,” U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren said in a statement Tuesday. “As a convicted felon, he is prohibited from returning to this country.”

Morones-Perales pleaded guilty July 11 to all three counts with which he was charged.

In the first count against him, Morones-Perales admitted to selling Neo-Melubrina, used for muscular pain relief and fever, and Nordinet, used for relieving headaches and muscular and arthritis pain. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned Neo-Melubrina in 1977 because of its potentially fatal side effects, and it banned Nordinet in 1999 because it contained a possible carcinogen.

Under his second charge, Morones-Perales pleaded guilty to selling two prescription drugs without a prescription. The drugs were imported from Mexico.

The final charge to which Morones-Perales admitted states that he received in interstate commerce drugs that were labeled in Spanish, not English.

The $18,000 Morones-Perales has been ordered to pay represents the profits he got from selling drugs that were misbranded and not approved by the FDA.

The charges against him came after investigation by the FDA and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.