Toby McAdam of Livingston, MT, was scheduled for a jury trial beginning tomorrow, but he decided instead to plead guilty to a single count of violating a criminal contempt order under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). McAdam, who made a living for 20 years in the health supplement and alternative health fields, was indicted after selling Lugol’s Iodine and Bloodroot Immune Nutritional Support after he agreed not to do so in both a Consent Degree and a Civil Order of Contempt imposed by the court. Dietary supplement capsulesHis plea agreement with the government states there is “no indication that any of the purchasers were harmed or otherwise experienced deleterious effects from these products.” McAdam, 57, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters to four months in prison, along with $80,000 in liquidated damages and $4,936.48 in attorney’s fees. He was ordered to pay a $10 special assessment that was due immediately, but any fine the court might have imposed was waived, along with no requirement for supervision after his release from prison. McAdam was also allowed to self-report to prison when ordered to do so by the U.S. Marshals Service, which means that he is free until then. McAdam has sold dietary supplements in Montana under numerous business names, including RisingSun Herbal Health Corp., RisingSun Health, RisingSun Nutritional Corp., RisingSun Ministries, Nutritional Supplements Inc. and McAdam Health Enterprises Corp. “The Department of Justice will use all available tools to ensure that dietary supplement and drug manufacturers obey court orders,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer said after the court sentenced McAdam. Mizer heads DOJ’s Civil Division, which recently announced it, along with six other federal agencies, had conducted a broad sweep of businesses for illegal practices involving dietary supplements. The criminal contempt order grew out of a civil action originally brought in 2010. At that time, McAdam was found by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of selling misbranded and adulterated dietary supplements and drugs that made unsupported claims of curing cancer, ADD/ADHD, epilepsy, intestinal parasites and other diseases. At that time, McAdam agreed to leave the business. When he resumed his activities, he was found in violation of the consent degree and an order of contempt upheld by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals was entered. The prosecution was handled by DOJ trial attorney David Sullivan of the agency’s Consumer Protection Branch.

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