James feijo biography

PORTSMOUTH, RI—A Portsmouth man and owner of Daniel Chapter One who sold fake cancer drugs and cheated the government out of $218,000 in employment taxes will spend six months in federal prison after being sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Providence.

James Feijo, 68, pleaded guilty to charges of selling products not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and failing to pay employment taxes in September.

With his plea, Feijo admitted to the court that he falsely represented to employees that they were independent contractors even though they were employees. Between 2006 and 2011, he failed to file IRS Wage and Tax statements and paid employees with checks written out to cash.

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Meanwhile, Feijo caught the attention of authorities for selling bogus cancer treatments that contained little more than various chemicals, herbs and other impotent ingredients. To better prey on victims, Feijo billed himself a quasi-spiritual authority and plastered his website and marketing materials with religious imagery and verbiage, describing some products as “God’s gift.” Another herb concoction was described as fighting “tumor formation” with a price of $76.26 for a 32-ounce bottle.

“People facing difficult, even life-threatening, health challenges are often susceptible to the kinds of deceptive schemes cooked up by the defendant here,” said United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha. “Whether in this context or in others, those who prey on the hopes and fears of the most vulnerable deserve the full attention of law enforcement. A stretch in federal prison is more than appropriate for this defendant. The people who relied on his greed-motivated, baseless claims of ‘cure’ deserved much better.”

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The supplements, sold under the names 7 Herb Formula, Bio Shark and GDU, are not recognized as safe and effective treatments for cancer but the Feijos reportedly touted their potential cancer-fighting attributes in online advertisements, ads in their Portsmouth retail store, with a call center and on a daily radio program hosted by Feijo.

The case was investigated by the Rhode Island FDA Task Force from the North Providence and East Providence police departments along with the state police, Rhode Island National Guard and by the IRS Criminal Investigation unit.

IRS Criminal Investigations Acting Special Agent Kristina O’Connell said that businesses that cheat taxes not only give themselves an unfair advantage over complaint business owners, but also create victims out of their employees.

“Those who fail to do so gain a competitive advantage which will not be tolerated. Employment tax fraud also impacts employees, who may see future benefits such as Social Security reduced because their employer did not comply with the law,” O’Connell said.

Feijo, 68, was sentenced to three years of supervised release once he’s out of jail. He was also ordered to make restitution.