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Online druggist indicted: Ottawa man faces federal drug charges
(Lima News, The (Ohio) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Oct. 6--OTTAWA -- An Ottawa businessman is facing charges of narcotics conspiracy and money laundering in a case investigators first uncovered when he stopped in for a chat.
Jesse Bohrer, 32, owner of the Ottawa Water Co., pleaded not guilty in the Northern Ohio U.S. District Court in Toledo on Thursday to 23 counts of money laundering, seven counts of unlawful monetary transactions and narcotics conspiracy and importation charges. The charges all stem from what investigators are calling a scheme to sell pharmaceuticals online.
According to the affidavit filed with the district court, the case began in April 2005 when Bohrer visited the Toledo Drug Enforcement Agency to complain about death treats he said had been made against him in connection with an operation to smuggle drugs into the U.S. from Costa Rica. Agents questioned him further but got no useful information about the operation, so they began to look into Bohrer's life, the affidavit said.
Once investigators pulled Bohrer's financial records, they discovered large cash transactions and a number of electronic transfers made to a checking account in Bohrer's name made from an escrow service. Bohrer later told investigators the money came from an online pharmaceutical business he was running through Costa Rica. He bragged to officers that the business had the potential to bring in $11 million a month, according to the affidavit.
Investigators discovered more than $1.2 million in deposits made to Bohrer over a four-month period in 2004, all but $112,000 of which came through the escrow service. On his laptop they discovered the framework for an online pharmacy business, including the location of doctors in Costa Rica who would provide the drugs which were then shipped around the world via online orders. An abbreviated version of the online pharmaceutical scheme lists a quantity of transactions per month at 6,000, according to the affidavit.
Bohrer left the country during the investigation and was later arrested in Panama and moved to the Lucas County jail where he is being held without bail. A pretrial hearing has been scheduled for Nov. 20.
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