The United States Attorney's office announced Wednesday that six Fulton individuals, along with a Columbia man, a Jefferson City man and five individuals in the Sacramento, California, area, have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a $6.6 million mail fraud conspiracy that distributed synthetic marijuana, also known as K2, at various retail locations in Callaway County.
Jason Lee Houston, 36, Shawn Michael Browning, 25, Timothy Christopher Sandfort, 30, Brandon Derek Rader, 31, Joshua Adam Sheets, 30, and Dara Leanne Shirley, 30, all of Fulton; Casey Dewayne Miller, 32, of Columbia; Billie L. Bruce, 36, of Jefferson City; Raja Amer Nawaz, also known as “Rex,†41, a citizen of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and his wife, Sheila Marie Nawaz, 39, both of Roseville, California; Michael James Butler, 39, of Sacramento, California; Curtis Whayne Gonzales, 55, of North Highlands, California; and Aleksandr Polyanskiy, 24, of Citrus Heights, California; were charged in a 14-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City on Wednesday.
That indictment was unsealed and made public upon the arrests of Browning, Sandfort, Rader, Sheets and Shirley yesterday. They will have an initial court appearance today. Arrest warrants remain outstanding for Houston, Miller and Bruce. Raja Nawaz, who was arrested on April 13, 2016, remains in federal custody. Sheila Nawaz, Butler, Gonzales and Polyanskiy will self-surrender to authorities in California.
The federal indictment replaces a criminal complaint that was filed against Raja Nawaz on April 12 and includes additional charges and defendants.
The indictment alleges that all of the defendants participated in a conspiracy to defraud the government and the public from Dec. 18, 2012, to July 16, 2015, by selling synthetic marijuana under various trade names as “incense,†“aroma therapy†or “potpourri†that were “not for human consumption†when, in truth and fact, these products were drugs intended for human consumption as a drug.
According to the indictment, hundreds of shipments of synthetic marijuana were made to Callaway County. Synthetic marijuana was allegedly sold at Inscentives Resale, with one location in Auxvasse, Missouri, and two locations in Fulton, and at S&J Smoke Shop in Holts Summit.
According to the affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, these retail establishments grossed approximately $6,656,843 from the sale of approximately 799 kilograms of synthetic marijuana.
Undercover purchases of synthetic marijuana allegedly were made by law enforcement officers from these retail establishments. On numerous occasions, the affidavit says, law enforcement officers seized synthetic marijuana from individuals who had just left one of these retail establishments. Additionally, law enforcement officers responded to reported overdoses on synthetic marijuana that involved subjects who had purchased these substances from these retail establishments.
Callaway County businesses
Houston, Sandfort, Rader, Shirley and Miller operated three businesses, Inscentives Resale (with locations in Auxvasse and Fulton), from which they allegedly distributed synthetic marijauna. The federal indictment alleges that at various times Inscentives Resale, Inscentives Auto and First Stop Last Stop Pawn and Aromatherapy purchased synthetic marijuana from Raja Nawaz, Butler, Gonzales, Polyanskiy and others.
Browning, Sheets and Bruce operated Esscentials Buy, Sell and Trade (also known as Esscentials, or Esscentials Resale) and S&J Tobacco (also known as J&L Tobacco), which purchased synthetic marijuana from Raja Nawaz, Polyanskiy and others and sold synthetic marijuana from locations in Holts Summit.
Houston, Sandfort, Rader, Shirley, Miller, Browning, Sheets and Bruce also periodically supplied each other with packages of synthetic marijuana for resale.
According to the indictment, Houston, Sandfort, Rader, Shirley, Browning and Sheets paid at least $2,866,676 to Raja Nawaz, Polyanskiy, Butler, Gonzales and others for synthetic marijuana between Jan. 16, 2013, and April 18, 2015.
Raja Nawaz (assisted by Polyanskiy) allegedly shipped synthetic marijuana from California and Nevada via FedEx and UPS to Houston, Sandfort, Rader, Browning, Sheets, Shirley, Miller, Bruce and others at least 190 times between Sept. 4, 2013, and Dec. 24, 2014.
Butler and Gonzalez allegedly shipped synthetic marijuana from California via UPS to Houston, Sandfort, Rader, Shirley and Miller at least 37 times between June 24, 2014, and April 14, 2015.
Polyanskiy allegedly shipped synthetic marijuana from Nevada via UPS to Houston, Sandfort, Rader, Browning, Sheets, Shirley, Miller and Bruce at least 24 times from Jan. 8 to April 14, 2015.
Additional drug-trafficking counts
The federal indictment also alleges that all of the defendants participated in two additional conspiracies: a conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and a conspiracy to distribute controlled substance analogues.
In addition to the three conspiracy counts, the federal indictment charges Browning, Sheets and Bruce together in one count of aiding and abetting each other and others to distribute controlled substances.
Browning, Sheets and Bruce are also charged together in count of aiding and abetting each other and others to possess controlled substances with the intent to distribute.
Houston, Sandfort, Rader and Miller are also charged together in one count of aiding and abetting each other and others to distribute controlled substances.
Houston, Sandfort, Rader and Miller are also charged together in one count of possessing controlled substances with the intent to distribute.
Houston, Sandfort and Rader are also charged together in three counts of maintaining a place for the purpose of storing and distributing controlled substances at Inscentives Resale, with one location in Auxvasse and two locations in Fulton. Browning and Sheets are also charged together in one count of maintaining a place for the purpose of storing and distributing controlled substances at S&J Smoke Shop in Holts Summit.
Money-laundering counts
Raja Nawaz, Butler, Gonzales, Houston, Browning, Sandfort, Sheets, Rader and Shirley are also charged together in one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. They allegedly conspired to conduct financial transactions that involved the proceeds of illegal activity in order to promote the criminal activity and to conceal the nature of the proceeds.
In addition to the money-laundering conspiracy, Raja Nawaz, Houston, Sandfort, Rader and Shirley are charged together in two counts of money laundering.
The indictment alleges that Raja Nawaz engaged in numerous financial transactions through which he transmitted approximately $387,114 in proceeds from the distribution of synthetic marijuana from the United States to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in order to conceal these proceeds.
California businesses
The federal indictment alleges that Raja Nawaz utilized his businesses (MOJO Distribution LLC, Aromatic Novelties Inc., and Top Notch Novelties Inc.) to send FedEx packages containing synthetic marijuana to wholesale customers, including Butler and Gonzales.
Polyanskiy allegedly assisted Raja Nawaz in the distribution of synthetic marijuana by fulfilling orders placed by customers in the Western District of Missouri and elsewhere. Polyanskiy also established ANOP Inc., (in which Raja Nawaz was a silent partner) to send UPS packages containing synthetic marijuana to customers in the Western District of Missouri and various other locations in the United States.
Sheila Nawaz was the president of Ecomm Organix, Inc., which allegedly purchased synthetic marijuana from MOJO Distribution and then distributed it to retail customers throughout the United States, including the Western District of Missouri. Ecomm Organix and MOJO Distribution shared websites and telephone numbers used to market synthetic marijuana. Employees of MOJO Distribution were paid by Ecomm Organix. Ecomm Organix employees worked for MOJO Distribution.
Butler and Gonzalez worked for MOJO Distribution. They also established Butler-Whayne Industries LLC, which allegedly sent UPS packages containing synthetic marijuana to wholesale customers, including Inscentives Resale in Auxvasse and Fulton, and Esscentials/S&J Tobacco in Holts Summit.
Forfeiture allegations
The indictment also contains several forfeiture allegations, which would require the defendants to forfeit to the government any property used to commit the alleged offenses or any property derived from the proceeds of the alleged offenses, including a $6,656,843 money judgment, which represents the amount of money involved in the conspiracy to defraud the government and the public, and a $321,585 money judgment, which represents the amount of money involved in the conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
Forfeitures would also include the property of Inscentives Resale at 601 Airway Dr., Fulton, as well as $3,070 seized by law enforcement officers from Inscentives Resale, $9,581 seized by law enforcement officers from S&J Tobacco, $3,028 seized by law enforcement officers from Browning and various bank accounts.