FORDHAM — The Bronx man who launched thousands of frustrated date nights was sentenced Tuesday for dealing counterfeit erectile disjunction drugs.
Babou Jobe, 49, caught with almost 14,000 pills of counterfeit Viagra and Cialis has been hit with a $5,000 fine, five years of probation and possible deportation to his home country of the Gambia, according to the Bronx District Attorney's Office.
Jobe was arrested on Sept. 18, 2014 at a store at 6 E. 184th St. in possession of a sheaf of Viagra labels and thousands of phony Viagra and Cialis pills in blister packs and bottles, the DA's office said.
The retail value of the goods was more than $100,000, according to the criminal complaint.
The fake Viagra pills contained less than 15 percent of the advertised dosage of the drug's active ingredient, and filler material in the drug included vulcanized rubber, the DA's office said.
Jobe said he had been selling the fake pills since 2012 and made about $1,500 per month off of them, according to the DA's office.
"Yes I know they're fake. I get them from a Chinese guy," he said, according to the criminal complaint. "The Chinese guy has a van. We tell him what we want and another guy brings it."
The packaging on the phony pills was similar but not identical to the packaging for the real drugs.
A representative from Eli Lilly, which makes Cialis, noted that the color and design of the bottles were off, and a representative from Pfizer, which makes Viagra, pointed out that the box had a green arrow instead of the properly colored light blue arrow, according to the DA's office and court documents.
Jobe pled guilty to second degree trademark counterfeiting, a felony, and waived his right to an appeal in taking the plea.
He is subject to deportation to the Gambia as a non-U.S. citizen, but it was unclear whether or not he would actually be deported.
He asked for mercy at his sentencing, according to the DA's office, saying, "I'm very sorry for what I did, and I ask for forgiveness from the court."
