UES Pharmacist Wanted For Hoarding Personal Protective Equipment

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — An Upper East Side pharmacist is wanted for buying $200,000 worth of personal protective equipment as part of a price gouging scheme to make huge profits amid the outbreak of the new coronavirus in New York City, court documents say.

Richard Schirripa, 66, stockpiled the protective equipment as the coronavirus was spreading in China earlier this year but had not yet reached the United States, according to a search warrant application filed in the Eastern District of New York. Schirripa owns Madison Avenue Pharmacy on Madison Avenue between East 97th and 98th streets.

The pharmacist is accused of violating the Defense Production Act, which prohibits individuals from hoarding materials designated by the federal government as "scarce" during times of crisis and from reselling those materials "in excess of prevailing market prices," according to the warrant

Federal agents with the Department of Homeland Security launched an investigation into Schirripa after receiving a tip this month that he had a stockpile of N-95 masks. On April 4, an undercover agent made contact with Shirripa on a recorded call. During the call, Schirripa admitted that he was selling surgical N-95 masks for about $22 per mask or 10-packs of commercial N-95 masks for $150.

"I had purchased them after the gouging took place, so the price – my masks are very expensive, but you can’t get them," Schirripa said during the call, according to the warrant application.

The undercover officer met Schirripa on the block of his pharmacy on April 9 to buy $2,690 worth of N-95 masks, according to the search warrant application. The federal investigation revealed that Schirripa also sold masks to a number of Upper East Side pharmacies and doctor's offices.

During the April 9 deal with the undercover officer, Schirripa told the agent: "I don’t want anyone to see the stuff—this stuff is like gold right now," and admitted, "I feel like a drug dealer standing out here."

Check out the full search warrant application here: