United States v. Gurucharan, 1:21-cr-00511

Gurucharan Dua, owner of Colossal Health, was subject to a search warrant based on an affidavit by FDA Special Agent Jose Sanchez, describing an alleged scheme to purchase and resell diverted prescription drugs using sham companies and fake transaction "pedigrees."
From 2011 to 2016, Colossal allegedly bought over $57 million in diverted drugs from unlicensed, sham companies, and purportedly provided false pedigree documents to customers, which was required by law.
The FDA’s investigation included witness interviews, undercover efforts, and surveillance, culminating in the 62-page affidavit presented to a magistrate judge to establish probable cause for the warrant.
Dua filed a motion for an evidentiary hearing (a "Franks hearing"), arguing the affidavit contained intentional material omissions and misstatements that undermined the probable cause determination.
The court's decision specifically addresses whether Agent Sanchez’s alleged omissions and misstatements were sufficiently material to entitle Dua to a Franks hearing, not whether Dua actually knew the drugs were diverted.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Material omissions/misstatements in warrant affidavit	Agent Sanchez omitted exculpatory evidence implying Dua was duped, not complicit	Information was sufficient for probable cause; omitted points immaterial	Omitted/misstated facts not material; no hearing
Requirement for Franks hearing	Omitted/misleading info altered probable cause determination	Any errors immaterial; probable cause still established	No substantial preliminary showing; motion denied
Affidavit’s focus on certain witnesses	Agent relied on second-hand info (CW-1) instead of direct witnesses	Focus acceptable if probable cause remains irrespective of details	Choice of focus did not defeat probable cause
Sufficiency of allegations regarding knowledge	Affidavit omitted facts suggesting Dua lacked knowledge of scheme	Sufficient evidence supported inference of knowledge	Probable cause not defeated by omissions

Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154 (1978) (establishes standard for challenging truthfulness of warrant affidavit)
Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213 (1983) (probable cause standard for search warrants is "fair probability")
Herring v. United States, 555 U.S. 135 (2009) (exclusionary rule for evidence seized without probable cause)
United States v. Bacon, 991 F.3d 835 (7th Cir. 2021) (outlines probable cause and Franks challenge principles)
United States v. Glover, 755 F.3d 811 (7th Cir. 2014) (Franks hearing standard in the Seventh Circuit)
United States v. Santiago, 905 F.3d 1013 (7th Cir. 2018) (materiality requirement for Franks hearing)
United States v. Carmel, 548 F.3d 571 (7th Cir. 2008) (Franks hearing not required if probable cause remains)