Brentwood Brothers Face Prison For Bogus Pharmacy Drug Pedaling

LOS ANGELES, CA —

A sentencing hearing for two Brentwood brothers convicted of running a $3 million prescription drug distribution scheme out of a bogus pharmacy was postponed Wednesday when one of the defendants accused his attorney in open court of refusing to file "newly discovered evidence" on his behalf.

Dalibor "Dabo" Kabov and his older brother Berry face the possibility of decades behind bars for convictions on federal charges of conspiracy to distribute narcotics, distribution of oxycodone, conspiracy to import narcotics, importation of anabolic steroids, money laundering and subscribing to false tax returns.

As the hearing got underway in Los Angeles federal court, Dalibor stood and addressed U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee, telling her that he had a motion to present to the court and that his attorney had refused to file it.

Gee told him that the time for filing motions had passed, but inquired whether defense attorneys wished to request additional time to deal with the matter before the hearing continued. Both lawyers answered in the affirmative.

Dalibor Kabov's attorney, Anthony Eaglin, told the court that he did not "fully understand what it is my client wants to offer" as proof. The defendant indicated that the subject matter involved post-office boxes apparently linked to the shipping of narcotics, for which the brothers were convicted.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ben Barron said the issue was "tangential" to the case.

Gee called off the sentencing hearing and instead set a schedule for filing of the oversize motion -- containing more than 25 pages of argument -- and a deadline for attorney responses. She said she would reset a sentencing date after the issue was resolved.

The Kabovs were convicted in January 2017 of being at the center of a scheme that illegally sold bulk shipments of prescription opiate painkillers -- including oxycodone, which is commonly marketed under the brand name OxyContin and is also the main ingredient in Percocet and Percodan -- hydromorphone, also known as Dilaudid, and hydrocodone, commonly known as Vicodin or Norco.

Prosecutors are asking that the brothers -- who are sharing a cell in federal custody -- each be sentenced to 20 years behind bars and ordered to pay $500,000 each in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service. Defense attorneys were expected to argue in support of prison sentences between three and four years.

According to court documents and evidence introduced during their three-week trial in Los Angeles federal court, the Kabov brothers used a bogus company -- Global Compounding Pharmacy in West Los Angeles -- to sell bulk quantities of prescription drugs to customers across the country. During the investigation, authorities seized shipments that contained thousands of hidden oxycodone pills that the Kabov brothers had shipped to customers in and around Columbus, Ohio. Those customers in turn made cash deposits into Kabov- controlled bank accounts or simply shipped bulk cash to the brothers in Southern California.

To conceal the drug sales, the Kabovs -- 47-year-old Berry and Dabo, 34 -- used their pharmacy to generate records that falsely indicated that prescriptions had been filled in the names of identity theft victims, prosecutors said.

From June 2012 through December 2014, the pharmacy ordered nearly 100,000 oxycodone pills, yet it reported only half of those pills to state authorities who track prescription drug sales, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The Kabovs were also found guilty of illegally importing anabolic steroids purchased from a wholesale drug distributor located in Hubei, China.

On federal tax returns, the Kabovs understated their income by about $1.5 million. They falsely claimed to have suffered net losses in 2011 and 2012, while they were flying in private jets, staying in penthouse suites, and purchasing new luxury cars, such as a $100,000 Corvette, according to prosecutors.

Evidence showed that at one point, Global Compounding was the top purchaser of oxycodone among all pharmacies in the Los Angeles area, ordering three times more oxycodone than the second-largest purchaser.

By FRED SHUSTER, City News Service; Photo: Shutterstock