May.18, 2010, 5:09 p.m. MDT, Source: Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — Two Utah County business partners accused of running an illegal Internet pharmacy scheme that sold as many as 8 million pills produced in Mexico pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday.

Dr. James Brinton, 63, of Provo, and Noah Sifuentes, 58, of Orem, both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute Phentermine and conspiracy to commit international money laundering. In exchange for their guilty pleas, prosecutors agreed to recommend three years in prison for Brinton and 21 months in prison for Sifuentes. They will also recommend that both men follow their prison time with supervised release terms of three years.

The two men were indicted along with 18 others in connection with the scheme, which the indictment states involved selling a number of controlled substances, including Ritalin, Valium and Xanax on the website lighthousemeds.com. The plea agreements for both men state that they sold around 8 million Phentermine pills over the Internet to people without valid prescriptions and without having the "requisite authority" from the Drug Enforcement Administration to distribute prescription pills.

Prosecutors said some of the pills were even believed to be "sub-potent" versions of the drugs.

Outside Tuesday's hearing, Brinton defended the distribution of Phentermine, saying it's the solution to obesity, which he believes is the "No. 1 problem in the world."

"No one has ever died from taking Phentermine," he said. "Phentermine is the safest, least expensive weight-loss medicine available. I know I helped people overcome obesity and improve their health."

That said, Brinton acknowledged that it was not the drug that was the issue, but the way he and his co-defendants distributed the drug.

"The problem is that the method of the Internet pharmacy sales is illegal the way the (law) lies now, so for that I am guilty and will be punished."

Brinton and Sifuentes were identified as business partners in the operation by Gregory Crosby, 53, of Provo, who pleaded guilty in March to the same charges.

According to the plea agreements, the defendants paid $1.9 million to a supplier in Chihuahua, Mexico, for the Phentermine. The men didn't wire the money directly to the Mexico-based supplier, but sent $1.3 million of it through the personal bank account of another defendant to further the scheme.

They used the personal account of Edgar Flores-Cuevas, 36, whose case was resolved in January. Flores-Cuevas was sentenced to the 20 months of prison he'd served and placed on supervised release for conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Additional charges were filed against five of the defendants in April. Kenneth E. Forrest, 43, and Timothy Shields, 45, both of Provo, are facing new charges of conducting a continuing criminal enterprise, drug distribution and money laundering. Martha Forrest, 66, of Salt Lake City, is facing charges of drug distribution and money laundering, while Treila Shumway, 40, of Manti, was also charged with drug distribution.

Deborah McCoard, 43, of Spring City, was charged in the money laundering count with Kenneth E. Forrest, Martha Forrest and Shields. They are all scheduled for trial in August.

The other cases are pending. Brinton will be sentenced on July 1, followed by Sifuentes, who will be sentenced August 4.