Following legal arguments on Jan 27th 2014, US magistrate judge Frances Stacy dismissed government's charges and pronounced final JUDGMENTS in favor of Dr.Dammai, and closed the case as a class C misdemeanor of 'mislabeling' (not labeling vials as 'for research use only' or 'not for human use' that could have prevented misuse of stem cells), a technical count related to research and technology development. A $500 fine was imposed for the misdemeanor. As per the JUDGMENTS, all work done by Dr.Dammai between 2006-2010 as an 'outside' consultant was deemed as legal earnings. All charges in prior indictments were DISMISSED based on the final JUDGMENTS by judge Frances Stacy, ending Dr.Dammai's case as a class C misdemeanor. [On June 9th 2015, judge Frances Stacy approved early termination of probation, ending Dr.Dammai's final obligations in the case].
The following statements by Dr.Dammai's lead attorney Jim Lavine (Zimmermann, Lavine & Zimmermann, P.C) explains the context and scope of 'mislabeling' stem cells, which ended with legal arguments and judgment in favor of Dr.Dammai, as mentioned above.
These statements appeared in a front-page article by Prentiss Findlay of The Post & Courier (Charleston, SC) on Friday, August 2, 2013 (print edition).
Jim Lavine of Houston said Dammai's guilty plea (to a technical misdemeanor) was related to mislabeling of stem cells, but he was not a co-conspirator in a government case against Francisco Morales, 54, of Brownsville, Texas. Dammai mailed stem cells (to Branyon) that he thought would be used appropriately for research and not for unproven, highly expensive treatment of terminally sick people, Lavine said. Dammai had no knowledge that the stem cells were being used for that purpose (offered as a cure to patients with various neurological diseases), Lavine said.
"There was no evidence that Dr.Dammai intended to defraud anyone. If he knew what they were going to be used for, he would have been guilty of a felony", Lavine said. "Probably lot of other scientists at universities are guilty of the same thing," he said.
Note: words in parenthesis are inserted to provide context.
The article goes on..
Dammai said in a posting at a website that the Justice Department press release about his guilty plea contains "canards, errors and distortions" and that the truth of the situation is in the plea agreement.
The outright false narrative disseminated to public by the Justice Department throughout the course of this case (for example, see links here and here) quickly unraveled after a pioneering investigative report by FITSNEWS on October 7, 2013 exposed in stunning detail the leading role played by SC Senator Stephen Lewis Goldfinch Jr. (A.K.A. Stephen Goldfinch, Senator) and his partner Yair Adereth (worked at GE Healthcare and VAYU Sense, Israel) in illegal trafficking of stem cells to Francisco Morales and others (click here and here). Independent reports further revealed that Stephen Goldfinch and Yair Adereth made $5 million in this stem cell scam that lasted more than 3 years.
The following statements by Dr.Dammai's lead attorney Jim Lavine (Zimmermann, Lavine & Zimmermann, P.C) explains the context and scope of 'mislabeling' stem cells, which ended with legal arguments and judgment in favor of Dr.Dammai, as mentioned above.
These statements appeared in a front-page article by Prentiss Findlay of The Post & Courier (Charleston, SC) on Friday, August 2, 2013 (print edition).
Jim Lavine of Houston said Dammai's guilty plea (to a technical misdemeanor) was related to mislabeling of stem cells, but he was not a co-conspirator in a government case against Francisco Morales, 54, of Brownsville, Texas. Dammai mailed stem cells (to Branyon) that he thought would be used appropriately for research and not for unproven, highly expensive treatment of terminally sick people, Lavine said. Dammai had no knowledge that the stem cells were being used for that purpose (offered as a cure to patients with various neurological diseases), Lavine said.
"There was no evidence that Dr.Dammai intended to defraud anyone. If he knew what they were going to be used for, he would have been guilty of a felony", Lavine said. "Probably lot of other scientists at universities are guilty of the same thing," he said.
Note: words in parenthesis are inserted to provide context.
The article goes on..
Dammai said in a posting at a website that the Justice Department press release about his guilty plea contains "canards, errors and distortions" and that the truth of the situation is in the plea agreement.
The outright false narrative disseminated to public by the Justice Department throughout the course of this case (for example, see links here and here) quickly unraveled after a pioneering investigative report by FITSNEWS on October 7, 2013 exposed in stunning detail the leading role played by SC Senator Stephen Lewis Goldfinch Jr. (A.K.A. Stephen Goldfinch, Senator) and his partner Yair Adereth (worked at GE Healthcare and VAYU Sense, Israel) in illegal trafficking of stem cells to Francisco Morales and others (click here and here). Independent reports further revealed that Stephen Goldfinch and Yair Adereth made $5 million in this stem cell scam that lasted more than 3 years.