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NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that Natalie Barton, age 41, of Mandeville, Louisiana, was sentenced on April 7, 2021 by United States District Judge Lance M. Africk after previously pleading guilty to one count of misbranding prescription drugs, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 331(a) and 333(a)(2).

Court records indicate that Barton and her husband distributed prescription medications through websites and in a brick-and-mortar store. These prescription drugs were dispensed without valid prescriptions issued by licensed practitioners, and without labels that complied with the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Instead, these substances included labels that were misleading, in that they stated that the substances were not for human consumption, which was false. Barton and E.B. were not practitioners licensed by law to administer prescription drugs.

United States District Court Africk sentenced Barton to 5 years of probation. The Court also imposed a $100 mandatory special assessment.

U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Food and Drug Administration, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations in investigating this matter. U.S. Attorney Evans expressed appreciation for the support provided by the United States Anti-Doping Agency and the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory. Assistant United States Attorneys Jonathan Shih and Inga Petrovich are charge of the prosecution.

This prosecution is part of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”). OCDETF is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.