Suspended Chicago Pharmacist Michael Markiewicz Sentenced for Selling Counterfeit Viagra and Cialis Smuggled From China in Boxes of Pens

Case from 2013–2016 (U.S. Attorney's Office latest release: Jan. 29, 2016). Published on Scammers.com Oct. 16, 2026; case status is current as of that date.

Michael Markiewicz, a suspended pharmacist who owned Belmont Pharmacy on Chicago's Northwest Side, was sentenced on Jan. 29, 2016, to a year and a day in federal prison for dispensing counterfeit Viagra and Cialis he imported from China, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced [1]. He was also fined $10,000 and ordered to forfeit his pharmacy.

How the scheme worked

According to Markiewicz's plea agreement, as described by prosecutors [1]:

1. Ordered online: He bought phony erectile-dysfunction pills from China over the internet.
2. Hidden in pen boxes: The tablets came in boxes said to contain pens, and customs declarations listed only pens.
3. Sold over the counter: He sold about 1,600 counterfeit Viagra and Cialis tablets without prescriptions at his pharmacy, for at least $20 a pill. Genuine pills would have retailed for about $35,000.

The Illinois Department of Professional Regulation suspended his pharmacist license and revoked the pharmacy's license in November 2012. He kept operating the store at 6148 W. Belmont Ave. as an herb and nutrient retailer [1] [2].

The person sentenced

Michael Markiewicz (also known as Michael Markowitz), 39 at sentencing, of Norridge, Ill. [1] [3]

• Indictment (April 2013): charges including eight counts under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and four counts of trafficking in counterfeit drugs or goods [3].
• Plea (April 2, 2015): pleaded guilty to trafficking and attempting to traffic in a counterfeit drug, and to dispensing a counterfeit drug with intent to defraud and mislead [2].
• Sentence (Jan. 29, 2016): a year and a day in prison, a $10,000 fine and forfeiture of the pharmacy, imposed by U.S. District Judge John Z. Lee.
• Investigation: FDA Office of Criminal Investigations and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Red flags

• Prescription drugs sold without a prescription, even at a storefront that looks like a pharmacy.
• Prices or packaging that differ from what you normally get.
• A "pharmacy" that now calls itself an herb or supplement store but still sells prescription drugs.

What to do if you're targeted

1. Buy prescription drugs only with a valid prescription from a licensed pharmacy; check licenses with your state board of pharmacy.
2. Look for "safe.pharmacy" or NABP accreditation when buying online.
3. Report suspected counterfeit medicine to the FDA's MedWatch program at fda.gov/medwatch.

Case status (as of Oct. 16, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 16, 2026	Source
Michael Markiewicz, Norridge, Ill.	N.D. Ill. (Judge Lee)	Indicted April 2013; pleaded guilty April 2, 2015; sentenced Jan. 29, 2016, to a year and a day, $10,000 fine and pharmacy forfeiture	[1]-[3]

The sentence was imposed in 2016; we have not found a source on any later proceedings.

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "Northwest Side Pharmacist Sentenced to a Year and a Day in Federal Prison for Selling Counterfeit Viagra and Cialis," Jan. 29, 2016. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/northwest-side-pharmacist-sentenced-year-and-day-federal-prison-selling-counterfeit
2. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "Suspended North Side Pharmacist Pleads Guilty To Trafficking Counterfeit Viagra," April 2, 2015. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/suspended-north-side-pharmacist-pleads-guilty-trafficking-counterfeit-viagra
3. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "Suspended North Side Pharmacist Indicted For Allegedly Smuggling And Trafficking Counterfeit Viagra," April 18, 2013. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/suspended-north-side-pharmacist-indicted-allegedly-smuggling-and-trafficking

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