Former Lorain County pharmacy co-owner who became a fugitive for a decade pleads guilty to federal tax charge

A former North Olmsted man and co-owner of two Lorain County pharmacies who was charged 12 years ago has pleaded guilty to a criminal tax charge in federal court. Sbeih Sbeih, 57, was charged with conspiring to defraud the IRS and ended up a fugitive until earlier this year. He pleaded guilty June 11 to conspiracy to defraud the IRS in U.S. District Court in Cleveland, said the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 17, according to court records. Sbeih is in custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, court records stated. Following Sbeih's federal criminal indictment in June 2014, the Drug Enforcement Agency said he and married couple Osama and Samah Salouha of Strongsville used the Southside Pharmacy on Fulton Road in Lorain and Medicine Center Pharmacy on Cleveland Street in Elyria to illegally sell painkillers and hide their profits from the IRS. Sbeih was a licensed, registered pharmacist in 2014 when he and Osama Salouha also allegedly conspired to divert proceeds from the pharmacies into personal, nonbusiness bank accounts to conceal income from their accountant and the IRS. They then allegedly lied when questioned by investigators. Osama Salouha was charged with illegal distribution of controlled substances, money laundering, tax crimes, lying to federal agents and more. In July 2013, Sbeih told The Chronicle-Telegram he wasn't involved in any criminal activity. "I know that nothing illegal is happening at Southside," he said for a story in the July 10, 2013, edition of the newspaper. Federal court records said otherwise: An audit found that Southside was buying and selling hundreds of thousands of painkillers each year, far more than other pharmacies. Southside purchased 581,800 oxycodone tablets in 2012. By comparison, the main campus of Cleveland Clinic bought 261,400, according to court records. After they were charged, Sbeih and Osama Salouha went on the run. Sbeih got a permanent residence visa in Israel around 2016, according to federal court records. He was arrested in February in the country of Georgia and extradited back to the U.S. after 11 years. A federal judge in 2019 ordered nearly $690,000 in assets, including bank accounts held by Sbeih and his family members, to be surrendered to the U.S. government, according to court records. Osama Salouha, 54, remains a fugitive, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Samah Salouha, now 48, pleaded guilty in 2015 to making false statements and structuring bank deposits to avoid triggering bank reports to the IRS and was sentenced to three years of probation.Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.