Texas Man Gets 20 Years in Synthetic Drug Deaths

[FunctionalOlfactio]

A Texas man accused of selling synthetic drugs to customers in every state and distributing the chemicals that resulted in the overdose deaths of two teens in the Grand Forks, North Dakota, area was sentenced Thursday to more than 20 years in prison.

Charles Carlton, 29, of Katy, Texas, is the 15th and final defendant sentenced in the case that began after 18-year-old Christian Bjerk, of Grand Forks, and 17-year-old Elijah Stai, of Park Rapids, Minnesota, died within a week of each other in June 2012 after ingesting the hallucinogens.

Investigators said that Carlton, a self-described connoisseur of hallucinogens, sold the chemicals to Andrew Spofford of Grand Forks, who cooked up the drugs that killed the two teens and sent three other young people to the hospital. Spofford was sentenced earlier to more than 17 years in prison.

"It all rests on that initial decision to sell drugs for money," U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson said before sentencing Carlton to 20 years and 6 months in prison. "It's as bad as it gets."

Carlton pleaded guilty in March to three counts: conspiracy to distribute controlled substances resulting in serious bodily injury and death, introduction and delivery of a misbranded drug and money laundering. He faced a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole.

Carlton's lawyer, Alexander Reichert, said during Thursday's hearing that the government wrongly fixated on his client as the "worst actor they had ever seen" when there were others in the conspiracy who were just as culpable and received lesser sentences. Reichert said Carlton agreed to be interviewed for a documentary on synthetic drugs as a public service.

"He is desperate to make amends for what he has done," Reichert said.

It wasn't immediately clear what prison term Reichert had been seeking, and he left without taking questions after the hearing.

Carlton owned 51 percent of Motion Resources LLC, a former Houston company that allegedly imported controlled substances from Asia and Europe and made hundreds of thousands of dollars by reselling them over the Internet to domestic buyers. It is illegal to sell the chemicals for human consumption.

Federal prosecutor Chris Myers said Carlton continued to sell the chemicals when he found out about the two North Dakota deaths and filled out paperwork to change the name of the company.

Erickson ordered Carlton to pay back $385,000 in drug proceeds.

Myers, who asked for a sentence of 25 years, said afterward he was pleased with the outcome in a case that was complex on "so many different levels," including dealing with an unknown substance and the wide reach of online sales. He said there's no way of telling how many customers were hurt by the business.

"The response by state, local and federal law enforcement in the case was unbelievable," Myers said. "From the time these kids were found deceased until search warrants were executed in Texas was approximately two months. They dismantled an international drug trafficking organization and undoubtedly saved lives."

Debbie Bjerk, as she has in previous sentencing hearings in the case, showed a video of her son in his football uniform during a parents' day event eight months before he died. She also put a photo on a big screen showing Christian celebrating what would be his last birthday. He would have turned 21 on Tuesday.


"He not only stole the lives of Christian and Elijah, he stole the lives of the other 14 defendants before him," she said of Carlton. "There are no healing words I can say today that can convey the magnitude of our loss."

Unlike earlier hearings, Debbie Bjerk showed a photo of her son in his casket and Stai on life support at the hospital.

The judge said he received 25 letters of support from Carlton's relatives, friends and co-workers and believed that by most accounts that Carlton was "a devoted husband, good father, excellent employee and worked hard."

When given his chance to speak, Carlton turned to the Bjerk family and apologized.

"If I could turn back the hands of time, I would," he said, fighting back tears. "I have two children of my own, and what happened to your children is my greatest fear as a parent."

Source:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/texas-man-20-years-synthetic-drug-deaths-25169461

 

[FunctionalOlfactio]

People drink themselves to death daily and the people making the fire water aren't prosecuted. The difference is 25I NBOMe causes hepatic abnormalities and some people are better off without certain chemicals in their body.

"Merica, yay freedom!" This type of justice is close enoughor an admirable nation.

 

[PriestTheyCalledHim]

I saw this article after I checked my email. I was going to post it here but you beat me to it. I remember when this happened. At least he did not get life in prison without the possibility of parole.

 

[phenethylo J]

Carlton pleaded guilty in March to three counts: conspiracy to distribute controlled substances resulting in serious bodily injury and death, introduction and delivery of a misbranded drug and money laundering. He faced a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole.

This makes it seem like he sold nbomes as lsd if that's the case then it's hard for me to feel bad for him.

 

[FunctionalOlfactio]

This makes it seem like he sold nbomes as lsd if that's the case then it's hard for me to feel bad for him.

This is the indictment: http://www.scribd.com/doc/118168734/North-Dakota-Indictment

The chemicals were mislabeled during importation, hence the misbranded drug charge.

 

[ro4eva]

In truth, my practical experience with 25i-NBOMe has not been good - not good at all (too potent for me). However, like FunctionalOlfactio stated in his 2nd post, there is no equal accountability with respect to tragic and/or fatal incidents related to any and all recreational drug usage, as it should be in my opinion considering which of them causes the most deaths, the highest rates of addiction, and the biggest burden on healthcare and tax payers.

The mainstream media needs to start waking up already, because this two-faced routine of looking the other way when it's convenient (i.e. deaths due to booze and tobacco) and screaming bloody murder when it isn't convenient (e.g. controlled substances, research chems, certain plants, and so forth) is ridiculously easy to spot, and thank God that more and more of the general public appears to be noticing this fascist trend.

There is no better word - what has been done for so many decades is fascist, and not just because of ethanol and nicotine, but because of the misuse of certain laws which were put in place specifically for drug trafficking (e.g. Asset Forfeiture, Mandatory Minimums).

But wait, there's more - as in, the revelations of the industries which have adapted their fiscal strategies in order to profit off of the needless, cowardly suffering of others. Countless good, non-violent, otherwise law-abiding men and women who have basically paid the ultimate price (adult life and death in prison) because they did not enjoy the high which alcoholic beverages offers its consumers.

To use a food analogy, these men and women rotted away in prisons all over America because they didn't like chicken, but did like beef.

Is that not a common human trait - specific and/or unique tastes in fashion, food, and even intoxicants?

I mean it's so irrational when I think about my pothead neighbor risking his freedom for consuming a plant after work, which he has told me repeatedly that it helps him manage his lower back pain, lack of appetite, nausea, and insomnia. This man wouldn't hurt a fly, yet he's the dangerous, evil one who should be shunned?!

Meanwhile, my other short-fused neighbor really likes his beer and tequila. He has repeatedly acted belligerent and violent towards his wife and kids - that poor girl is probably traumatized for life. And if anything, this is the guy I would be worried about, not the pothead. But try to tell a conservative mind such a thing, and chances are that they'll react in a manner befitting an uneducated moron.

I am so happy that the so-called information age has had the unintended effect of aiding those who are most vulnerable with sorting the truth from the bullshit when it concerns a controversial topic. It also concerns me however because these schmucks now want to tighten their control-obsessed grip on something which should remain public domain (that being the net).

And while I do agree that it is exponentially more difficult to change someone's opinion the older they are, I do not believe it's impossible. But in those cases where it is futile, at least I can have some peace of mind knowing that the Baby Boomers are on their way out. I'm sorry if that sounds cruel, however, in my experience the most difficult and/or stubborn generation of individuals has always been (and continues to be) "zee Baby Boomahs" for some reason, but I digress.