A Columbus couple has been sentenced to fines, and one of them must forfeit $250,000 in money or property, after authorities say they sold mislabeled and smuggled products in their adult novelty store.
Dean and Luisa Priest, who are listed as incorporators of the business Sensations on Highway 373, were sentenced to one year of probation and must each pay $1,000 fine after pleading guilty in federal court to selling mislabeled drugs at the business. Dean Priest, who also pleaded guilty to selling smuggled products, will forfeit the $250,000, according to a separate order entered in court records. They were sentenced in Oxford Monday.
Forfeiture of money or property is generally used as part of a penalty when a defendant has gained monetarily for a crime, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District in Oxford.
Both Dean and Luisa Priest pleaded guilty to selling mislabeled drugs in April. Dean Priest also pleaded guilty to receipt, concealment, purchase or sale of merchandise imported into the United States contrary to law.
The couple was arrested in 2017 after investigators from the Food and Drug Administration seized hundreds of pills, as well as invoices, shipping records and other documents regarding sales and purchases from the store.
Court documents say the Priests introduced the drugs “New Still Nights” and “Libigrow” to the store between May 2015 and June 2017 without properly labeling that they contained the ingredient sildenafil. Sidenafil is used to treat erectile dysfunction (impotence) in men. The documents also say Dean Priest knew the drugs had been smuggled into the country illegally.
Sensations, located near the south gate at Columbus Air Force Base, remains open.
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