But then, when pressed on how he'd known the prescription drug business was illegal, Wall dropped a bombshell: Le Roux had once told him so, on the phone. Within minutes of making the state- ment, the defense attorneys had shredded his testimony with the simple observation that he'd never mentioned this phone call in any previous sworn statements. Seemingly overeager to show his worth as a witness, Wall had tripped himself up. The prosecution later had to admit that they had no record of Wall ever making the claim. He had either lied at the time, or he was lying now. Eventu- ally, Judge Nelson ruled that the jury be instructed to discount Wall's testimony entirely.

To incriminate the doctors, the prosecution put forward other former RX Limited physicians and pharmacists, most of whom had taken deals and now testified that they'd always suspected RX Limited was illegal. Among them was Anu Konakanchi, the doctor whom Prabhakara Tumpati had recruited into RX Limited, back when they were so close he had called her "sister."

After two weeks, the prosecution rested, and the defense pre- pared to present their case. Federal marshals flew Le Roux to Min- neapolis, where he waited in preparation for his own turn on the witness stand. Joseph Hunter was transported out of his federal prison cell in Kansas to Oklahoma, where he awaited a final trip to Minnesota. As the prosecution concluded their case, it appeared headed for a showdown with Paul Le Roux at the center.

Still, I couldn't help wondering what I'd just witnessed. Much of the prosecution's case seemed to rely on, as one of Oz's lawyers described it, "an aura of mild criminality." Clearly Oz, McCon- nell, and the doctors were at times eager and willing participants in various facets of RX Limited's operation. But the evidence meant to convince the jury they'd known they were breaking the law was difficult for me to parse—and I'd been following the cases for years.