Adam Sloan, 44, the Chief Commercial Officer of Old World Timber, a Lexington-based company specializing in antique wood reclamation, was sentenced to 10 months in prison for selling misbranded N95 respirator masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the fall of 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sloan, along with Nathan Brown, the CEO of Old World Timber, directed the company to begin importing and selling medical-grade 3M™ N95 respirators (masks). Old World Timber purchased more than 100,000 alleged 3M N95 masks from a company in China, and resold them to customers throughout the United States.
In his plea agreement, Sloan acknowledged that by March 2021, information from multiple sources, including 3M’s COVID-19 Fraud and Counterfeit Product Response Team, alerted him to the high probability that the masks he imported from China were counterfeit. Sloan deliberately ignored these concerns and directed his company to continue selling the masks, misleading customers as to their authenticity. Between March 3, 2021 and April 9, 2021, Brown caused Old World Timber to sell 57,460 misbranded masks for a total of $129,353. Upon Sloan’s release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the US Probation Office for one year. Sloan was also ordered to pay $129,353 in restitution.
