Man sentenced for selling $2 million worth of ‘gas station heroin’ as supplement in Mass.

A federal judge in Springfield sentenced a California man to two years in prison last week for allegedly smuggling a drug commonly known as “gas station heroin” and then selling the highly addictive drug as a supplement to online customers in Massachusetts.

Ryan M. Stabile, 37, of Pasadena, California owned a company called Supplements for Work, which sold and falsely marketed the misbranded drug, tianeptine, as a mood enhancer that improved cognitive functioning, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy.

Stabile also made it seem like he was selling tianeptine for research purposes only, despite selling it to people for personal use, the U.S. attorney’s office noted.

Stabile smuggled about 10-15 kilograms of tianeptine per month from a Chinese supplier, divided and repackaged the drug, and resold it in 5-gram, 10-gram, and 20-gram quantities for $55-175 on his websites, prosecutors said. His sales allegedly averaged $250,000 per month and made up about 95% of his company’s profits.

While on pre-trial release following his indictment in November 2019, Stabile continued to sell the drug online for several years under a different company and website known as Ultra Vulgar Festival Drip, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Stabile made at least $2.2 million in illegal tianeptine sales across these two companies, prosecutors said.

In addition to his time in prison, Stabile faces three years of supervised release and must pay a forfeiture of $1,833,922.

Stabile previously pleaded guilty in September to one count of conspiracy and two counts of introduction of misbranded drugs with intent to defraud and mislead, the U.S. attorney’s office noted.

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