Cape Coral pharmacy owner sentenced

CAPE CORAL — U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell has sentenced Martha Otano, 43, co-owner of St. Jude's Pharmacy in Cape Coral, to three years and one month in prison and $7,500 in fines for making structured cash deposits from the illegal sale of Oxycodone.

Otano, who was a registered pharmacy technician, was indicted June 2013 for making structured cash deposits to evade bank currency transaction reporting requirements.

As part of her sentence, the court also entered a monetary judgment against her for $1.31 million, the amount of drug proceeds deposited into various banks. Otano was also ordered to forfeit her interest in a 2013 Mercedes Benz, a 2012 Chevrolet truck and $860,376.79 in seized funds, in partial satisfaction of the money judgment. Law enforcement seized these belongings and executed search warrants at St. Jude's Pharmacy and at Otano's home in Cape Coral, on Nov. 15, 2012.

Otano admitted to conspiring to deposit approximately $1.31 million in cash deposits into three bank accounts that she controlled with her husband. St. Jude's Pharmacy routinely filled fraudulently prescriptions for Oxycodone in exchange for cash.

Jorge Otano has pleaded not guilty to the charges filed against him and is scheduled to go to trial during the November trial term.

The United States Secret Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorneys David Lazarus and Yolande Viacava are prosecuting it.