La Puente : Health Code Charges Filed
Los Angeles City Atty. James Hahn has filed criminal charges against a La Puente woman for illegally selling prescription drugs after state investigators found steroids and other drugs in her Boyle Heights shop, officials said.
Maria Melania Ibarra, 36, who operates a shop known as “Miscelanea,” faces seven counts of violating the city Health and Safety Code and the Business and Professional Code, said Deputy City Atty. Fay Chu.
Those charges, filed last week, include four counts of offering misbranded drugs, one count of illegally possessing a controlled substance, one count of operating an unlicensed pharmacy and one count of unlawfully possessing a controlled substance, according to authorities.
Each count could result in up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine, officials said. Ibarra, also known as Melania Ibarra Guzman, will be arraigned July 29 in Los Angeles Municipal Court.
Health department investigators were making a routine check of the establishment when they discovered the drugs last month, Chu said.
Investigators found illegal prescription drugs from Mexico displayed for sale during an inspection of the store at 3425 E. 1st St., Chu said. The store carries cosmetics, clothing accessories and health care products from Mexico.
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