Bryce Cleveland, 42, the president and CEO of Scalpa, Inc., pleaded guilty on July 31, 2026, to three federal charges related to marketing and selling unapproved skincare products, including injectable devices and a botulinum toxin product. Cleveland, of Scottsdale, Arizona, admitted to mail fraud, introduction of an adulterated device into interstate commerce, and introduction of an unapproved new drug into interstate commerce.
Between March 2018 and December 2020, Cleveland devised what prosecutors describe as a fraudulent scheme to “unlawfully enrich himself by marketing and delivering, and causing others to market and deliver, unapproved devices to consumers.” The products included the ScalpaJECT Hyaluronic Acid and Hyaluron Pen, which Cleveland falsely represented as not subject to Food and Drug Administration regulation. He also introduced an unapproved drug called “Scalpatox,” a botulinum toxin product, into commerce.
The case carries serious public health implications. According to court documents, injectable products delivered directly into the body or bloodstream “bypass some of the body’s key defenses against toxins and microorganisms that can lead to serious and life-threatening conditions.” The FDA issued a November 5, 2025, warning about unapproved botulinum toxin products and documented adverse events including botulism symptoms.
Cleveland was apprehended in Colombia in late 2025 and extradited to the United States, where he was arrested on an outstanding federal warrant following an indictment returned in July 2024. The U.S. Marshals Service located him in Bogotá with assistance from the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs.
Under his plea agreement, Cleveland faces a prison sentence between four and eight years. He has agreed to pay full restitution for his criminal conduct and forfeit $800,000. The FDA Office of Criminal Investigations and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Corey Hall and Randy Ramseyer for the Western District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Taylor Broadbent of the Criminal Division’s Health and Safety Unit are prosecuting the case.
Source: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ceo-skincare-company-pleads-guilty-fdca-charges-and-mail-fraud
Featured image: U.S. Department of Justice (public domain)
