Ex-pilot who sold drink mix to beat federal drug tests pleads guilty to conspiracy in Pa.

Pilot who sold drug-test-beating mix pleads guilty

PITTSBURGH — A pilot for US Airways Express pleaded guilty to selling a powdered drink mix over the Internet to help drug users pass federal drug tests for truck drivers, pilots and train engineers and other safety-sensitive positions.

Stephen Sharp, 41, of Port Orange, Fla., was a pilot for PSA Airlines when he also ran the Web site www.yourintheclear.com from November 2006 through May 2008.

U.S. District Judge David Cercone granted Sharp permission Thursday to continue flying out of his base of Charlotte, N.C., until he returns to be sentenced Sept. 3, when he faces a maximum of five years in prison.

PSA Airlines removed the employee from duty and placed him on unpaid administrative leave as soon as they became aware of the court hearing, US Airways spokesman Andrew J. Christie Jr. said.

PSA flies under the US Airways Express banner and is wholly owned by US Airways, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary McKeen Houghton said.

Sharp didn’t comment at his guilty plea, beyond answering the judge’s questions with yes or no answers.

Prosecutors wouldn’t say whether Sharp had used drugs, or his own product, which was advertised as “100 percent” effective in defeating drug testing standards developed by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. SAMSHA tests are used to screen pilots and others by the U.S. Department of Transportation, as well as employees of other federal agencies, including the FBI.

“You simply mix the powder with a large glass of cranberry juice 1-5 hours before your test and then just relax!” Sharp’s Web site said.

Federal prosecutors said the product worked.

“There is public testimony by SAMSHA officials to Congress that these products are very effective,” Houghton said.

Prosecutors refused to say how many customers Sharp had, or how many of them may have worked in government-regulated industries.

Sharp pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States because his product was specifically designed and marketed to defeat U.S. Department of Transportation drug tests.

Sharp’s case is the latest brought by federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh against people who sold products specifically designed to defeat federal drug tests.

Earlier this month, two California men were sentenced after pleading guilty to selling a prosthetic male sex organ called the Whizzinator, that could be filled with synthetic urine.

SAMSHA officials have said the Whizzinator was developed because the agency became adept at finding masking agents — like Sharp’s product — in urine samples, so those taking drug tests had to develop a way to smuggle in “clean” samples.

Acting U.S. Attorney Robert Cessar said similar products are still being targeted by federal investigators in Pittsburgh.

“Our office is continuing to investigate these products in our continued effort to enforce federal law and ensure public safety,” Cessar said.