Boca Raton man faces prison after pleading on tax, drug charges

WEST PALM BEACH — A Boca Raton personal trainer faces as much as 10 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal district court to distributing human growth hormone.

Patrick Bonder, who pleaded guilty to tax fraud as well, also faces a fine as much as $500,000.
According to authorities, Bonder bought a variety of prescription drugs prescribed for Medicaid patients, including human growth hormone, from a New Jersey chiropractor who bought them on the streets of New York.

Bonder and the chiropractor sold the drugs to a drug wholesaler in Boca for more than $6.8 million.  The wholesaler would sell those drugs to pharmacies, which in turn, would sell them to patients who had no idea where the drugs had come from.

Bonder laundered the money through bank accounts in the Bahamas. He under reported his income to the IRS and falsely deducted marketing expenses on his tax returns.