A California man who was making $250,000 a month selling an imported, unapproved drug as a mood-enhancement supplement was sentenced in federal court last week to two years in prison and a hefty payback.
According to a US Attorney’s Office press release, Ryan M. Stabile, 37, of Pasadena, California, pleaded guilty in September 2023 to conspiring to smuggle tianeptine into the United States from China. The highly addictive drug, also known as “gas station heroin,” is often used as an antidepressant in other countries, according to the National Library of Medicine, and is currently not approved for any use in the US.
