6 arraigned in federal K-2 conspiracy case

Taking their ‘not guilty’ pleas was the easy part.

It took 90 minutes Friday morning in Jefferson City for U.S. Magistrate Judge Matt J. Whitworth to handle all the procedures for six of the 13 people indicted by a federal grand jury on a conspiracy to sell synthetic drugs.

All were listed in a 29-page, 14-count indictment released Wednesday, charging them with participating in a conspiracy to defraud the government and the public from Dec. 18, 2012, through July 16, 2015, by selling synthetic marijuana under various trade names.

Don Ledford, spokesman for U.S. Attorney Tammy Dickinson, said the drug containers were labeled “not for human consumption,” when they actually were intended for human customers.

“The people who are selling it and the people who are buying it know what it’s for,” Ledford said earlier this week.

The indictment also alleges this K-2 was being sold at several Callaway County locations, including S&J Tobacco, 1753 Halifax Road, Holts Summit. The business sits on the east side of U.S. 54, not far from Jefferson City’s northern limits.

Another business identified in the indictment is Inscentives Resale, 601 Airway Drive, just west of Fulton.

The six men in court Friday were: Jason Lee Houston, 36; Shawn Michael Browning, 25; Timothy Christopher Sandfort, 30; Brandon Derek Rader, 31; Joshua Adam Sheets, 30, all of Fulton; and Casey Dewayne Miller, 32, of Columbia.

Billie L. Bruce, 36, of Jefferson City, was also named in the indictment released Wednesday but is not in custody. “A federal arrest warrant has been issued, but he has not been arrested yet,” Ledford said Friday.

Five of the defendants in the case are in the state of California. However, it’s all one case, Ledford said.

“The California defendants will eventually be transported to Missouri to appear in federal court in Jefferson City,” he explained, “and all of their court hearings, trial, etc., will occur in Jefferson City.

“Raja Nawaz is already in federal custody. The other California defendants are going to self-surrender to authorities in California.”

Jeff Abbott, an Internal Revenue Service special agent, testified Friday about search warrants and a financial investigation that were part of the probe.

He identified a number of cashier’s checks written to pay for the synthetic drugs, including shipping them from California to Missouri.

K-2 is synthetic marijuana which has nearly the same effects on people as “natural” marijuana that comes from plants, Ledford explained this week.

Abbott testified K-2 had been tied to several area fatalities.

Whitworth determined two of six defendants could be released while the trial procedures are pending, then held hearings for the other four — with their lawyers presenting arguments challenging the government’s motion to keep them in custody.

Ultimately, Whitworth determined Sandfort, Rader and Browning could be released from detention, as long as they stay in contact with the court’s Pretrial Services Office and follow special conditions similar to those given people on probation, including avoiding contact with each other.

Whitworth allowed Sandfort and Rader to have contact at their mutual workplace, not outside of work.

He said Houston, Sheets and Miller should remain in custody because their previous criminal history makes them a potential danger to others and makes them a “flight risk.”

The case has a May 31 tentative trial date, but Whitworth said since it is a conspiracy trial, it’s doubtful the trial will occur then.