The duo responsible for creating the ‘Whizzinator’, a prosthetic device intended to help people beat drug tests, have plead guilty to conspiring to defraud the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the federal agency that administers federally mandated drug testing programs. Robert Catalano and George Wills, owners of Puck Technology, face up to eight years in prison and/or a hefty fine for manufacturing and selling the device via their company website. They are due to be sentenced in February 2009.
This should hopefully serve as a wake up call to other companies out there selling products that claim to help people beat a drug test. You don’t mess with the feds!
Men who sold ‘Whizzinator’ admit to federal charges
By Paul Walsh, Star Tribune – November 26, 2008
The two people behind the Original Whizzinator, a urine-cleansing gizmo that helped a onetime Minnesota Viking running back and other men cheat on drug tests, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in Pittsburgh.
Robert Catalano and George Wills, who owned online-based Puck Technology, entered their pleas Monday for conspiring to defraud the federal agency that administers federal workplace drug testing programs.
The California men are scheduled to be sentenced in February and face up to eight years in prison, a $500,000 fine or both.
In April 2005, the Vikings’ Onterrio Smith was caught at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport with a Whizzinator.
The device, which was available in five flesh colors and sold for $150, included a prosthetic penis attached to an undergarment resembling a jock strap. It connected to a pouch containing dehydrated urine. Water was added to the pouch and a heat pack could be attached to keep the urine close to body temperature.
“Black Hawk Down” star Tom Sizemore was similarly busted earlier that same year.
[...] testing system. Be aware, that while the makers of the one very popular prostethic device have now plead guilty to conspiring to defraud the government, the devices are still on the market for sale. Leave a [...]