Court upholds sentence for Net fraud

A federal appeals court has rejected a defendant's request for a shorter prison term for running an illegal Internet pharmacy. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals last Thursday upheld a 77-month sentence for Louis Nomar, who posed as a licensed physician while on supervised release resulting from prior convictions, concluding that "there is an inherent risk of serious bodily injury in having a person with no medical training dispense controlled substances over the phone."

Using his Web site to charge $120 for a telephone "consultation," Nomar and a co-conspirator prescribed "Schedule III and IV drugs, including hydrocodone, Valium, Xanax, Vicodin, Loritab and Tylenol with codeine," the court said. Nomar initially cooperated when he learned his supervised release was revoked, but then escaped from the cops for a few days, adding an extra 17 months to his initial sentence of 60 months for conspiracy to commit Internet wire fraud.