A registered nurse has been charged in federal court in Chicago for allegedly distributing counterfeit Ozempic. According to a criminal information filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Sharon Christine Sackman distributed counterfeit drugs labeled as Ozempic to three individuals in Chicago during 2023. The filing states that these drugs were not produced by Novo Nordisk, the official manufacturer of Ozempic, and did not contain its active ingredient, semaglutide.
Sackman, 52, is a registered professional nurse but was not legally authorized to prescribe, administer, dispense, or sell Ozempic. She currently resides in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. She faces one count of distributing misbranded drugs and three counts of dispensing counterfeit drugs. Each charge carries a potential sentence of up to one year in federal prison.
Sackman pleaded not guilty at her arraignment on Tuesday in federal court in Chicago. A status hearing is set for February 3, 2026, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Laura K. McNally.
The announcement was made by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Ronne Malham, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Havey is representing the government.
“The public is reminded that an information is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
