The e-commerce giant eBay will pay $59 million in a settlement with the Justice Department over thousands of pill press machines sold on the platform, the Justice Department said Wednesday.
The machines can be used to manufacture counterfeit pills that look just like prescription pills but instead can be laced with substances like fentanyl, a synthetic opioid drug that is largely fueling the deadliest overdose crisis in U.S. history.
The company failed to verify buyersโ identities and keep records required by law, and many people who bought pill presses onย eBayย have been prosecuted in connection with trafficking illegal counterfeit pills, the Justice Department said.
โHe just really had a special heart,” Union County resident Linda Hibbets said.
Hibbets, raised her grandson, 18-year-old Brian Terrano. He grew up loving adventures, sports, and anything to do with Gatlinburg. After a trip there, the next morning he was supposed to go to school.
โI told my husband to help me get him off the bed, and I did CPR, Iโm an RN, and I couldnโt save my grandson and that was really hard,” Hibbets said. “Iโve saved others, but I couldnโt save him, he was gone.โ
It’s a story UCSO Lieutenant James Maye has heard too often.ย
UNION COUNTY, N.C. โ Union County is working to speed up justice with its crime lab and newly accredited FIELDS of evidence, which means faster results while putting criminals behind bars and getting innocent people out.
Channel 9โฒs Hannah Goetz spoke with forensic chemists, crime scene investigators, and law enforcement officers on Thursday about the work they are doing, which is helping to cut back on the state labโs backlog.
The digital forensic lab has equipment used to analyze things, such as text messages, which could lead to an arrest.
โItโs key for us to create a timeline of that victimโs last hours and this room does a great job of providing us that,โ said Lt. James Maye.
The work in the digital forensic lab can help in cases of fentanyl poisoning to identify drug dealers.
โThis evidence is used to determine which source provided the narcotics that ended the life of a victim,โ Maye said.
The crime labโs most recent accreditation was in the fall of 2023, which allowed officials to process fingerprints and blood alcohol testing on-site.
The blood alcohol analysis, which could be crucial in a DWI arrest, starts there where vials are filled and prepped for testing.
โThe alcohol thatโs in the blood will slowly go into the air above the sample,โ said forensic chemist, Dayla Rich.
โSo, you test not the blood, but the air that is coming out of it?โ Goetz asked.
โCorrect,โ said Rich.
Running those tests in-house can provide results weeks or even months faster. Other local law enforcement agencies can use the lab too.
โSheriff (Eddie) Cathey is encouraging everyone to bring us your phones, your blood, anything we can do to get criminals off the street bring it to us weโll take care of it,โ said Lt. Maye.
In the coming months, theyโre hoping to be accredited in other fields of evidence analysis, including DNA, blood drug toxicology, and seized drugs.
The lab will not conduct autopsies on-site. That will be the responsibility of the regional medical examinerโs office.
The Union County Sheriffโs Office hopes to eventually do postmortem-blood-drug testing for death by distribution cases.
