La Mesa

A La Mesa pharmaceutical broker pleaded guilty Thursday to mail fraud and conspiracy to violate an interstate commerce code by selling samples of drugs intended for doctors’ use only.

Frank MaCosky, 38, is the third East County resident to plead guilty to charges stemming from an August indictment in Atlanta of 48 others in illegal sales of pharmaceutical drugs.

MaCosky owns the firm Frank N Scents, on Viento Fuerte Way.

U.S. District Judge J. Lawrence Irving told MaCosky he could face 10 years in federal prison and an $11,000 fine when he returns for sentencing Dec. 16.

Guilty pleas were entered Oct. 15 to similar charges by Leonard Schlein, 31, owner of Rancho San Diego Pharmacy in La Mesa, and Alan Bierman, 41, owner of Valu-Med Pharmacy in Santee.

MaCosky admitted in court that he provided Schlein with 4,000 Haldol tablets and 2,000 Carafate tablets that he had removed from their original containers.

“I knew that the manufacturer would not have knowingly authorized the pharmacy to sell these pharmaceuticals to me for further resale,” MaCosky said from a written statement.

The broker said he was aware that the pharmacy for which he purchased the drugs was not entitled to the special hospital price he received, and he admitted that he misrepresented himself during the sales.

Schlein and Bierman will be sentenced on Dec. 9. Schlein faces the possibility of an eight-year prison term and an $11,000 fine, and Bierman could receive six years and a $20,000 fine.