Leader of Methylone Trafficking Ring Pleads Guilty

Status
Not open for further replies.
pharmakos

pharmakos

Bluelighter
Joined
Jun 15, 2008
Messages
36,454
Location
thenightwatch v2.0
http://www.fbi.gov/washingtondc/pre...r-of-methylone-trafficking-ring-pleads-guilty

Leader of Methylone Trafficking Ring Pleads Guilty
Methylone, Known as Bath Salts, Scheduled Since October 2011
U.S. Attorney’s Office
October 11, 2012

Eastern District of Virginia
(703) 299-3700
ALEXANDRIA, VA—Matthew Scott Baker, 19, of Fairfax, Virginia, has pled guilty to leading a methylone trafficking ring that purchased multi-kilogram amounts of the illegal narcotic from China and distributed it throughout northern Virginia. He is the last of eight charged in the case to plead guilty.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Colonel David Rohrer, Fairfax County Chief of Police, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States District Judge Liam O’Grady.

Baker was indicted on July 3, 2012, by a federal grand jury and pled guilty on October 10, 2012, to conspiring to distribute methylone and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. He faces a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison on the drug charge and a minimum of five years up to life in prison on the firearm charge when he is sentenced on January 25, 2013. The penalty for the firearm charge would run consecutive to any penalty imposed on the drug charge.

Methylone is an analogue of ecstasy that has been a scheduled drug since October 21, 2011. The narcotic is often sold under the guise of “bath salts” or “plant food” and marketed under names such as “Ivory Wave,” “Purple Wave,” “Vanilla Sky,” or “Bliss.” According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the narcotic has been increasingly popular—particularly among teens and young adults—and, along with ecstasy, mimics the effects of cocaine, LSD, and/or methamphetamine.

In a statement of facts filed with his plea agreement, Baker admitted to ordering multi-kilogram amounts of methylone from a source located in China. Baker was introduced to this source by one of his co-defendants, Joshua Clougherty. The Chinese source then shipped boxes of methylone to Baker’s post office box over several months from the summer of 2011 through May 2012. Once Baker obtained quantities of methylone from China, he then distributed the drug to his co-conspirators for resale to customers in the northern Virginia area. Baker also sold methylone on several occasions to an undercover officer during the winter and spring of 2012 until the time of his arrest in May 2012.

Baker admitted to law enforcement agents that he had obtained approximately 20 shipments of methylone totaling approximately 10 to 15 kilograms over the course of the conspiracy. In addition, as part of his plea agreement, Baker agreed to forfeit a money judgment in the amount of $400,000, representing proceeds he obtained from the sale of methylone. Baker also admitted that he sought to purchase a Glock pistol from the same undercover officer to whom he was selling methylone.

The following seven other co-defendants have also pled guilty to conspiring to distribute methylone: Clougherty, Skander Bouchair, Kyle Griswold, Shelby Neal, Sajad Safdari, Patrick Un, and Ethan Walker.

This case was investigated by FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Fairfax County Police Department. Special Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth Eriksen is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae.
Click to expand...
 
they're singing like birds. either the charges are huge or these guys all have no spines. this is the guy who basically wrote the dea a novel about a well known and popular drug source board, as admin of said board, and dint tell anyone he was participating in a bust till after the fact. we all know what happens to snitches tho i guess

that said i am not suprised at all
 
sekio said:
they're singing like birds. either the charges are huge or these guys all have no spines. this is the guy who basically wrote the dea a novel about a well known and popular drug source board, as admin of said board, and dint tell anyone he was participating in a bust till after the fact. we all know what happens to snitches tho i guess

that said i am not suprised at all
Click to expand...

No it isn't. This case is unrelated besides sharing the same prosecutor and being in the same district. You're thinking of Justin "woot" Scroggins.
 
so this is some other kid who decided to snitch on all his buddies, it must be a more rampant problem than i expected
 
sekio said:
so this is some other kid who decided to snitch on all his buddies, it must be a more rampant problem than i expected
Click to expand...

Yeah, I figure any 19 year old would considering the time he faces. I don't think its right but I don't think most people at the age of 19 are fully grown adults, whether or not the courts see it that way.
 
i, too, thought this was w00t

calling methylone "bath salts" is a little misleading imo. it was sold under that moniker, true, but it is not the substance that was responsible for the "bath salt scare" from earlier this year. hopefully he doesn't get screwed over too hard from being associated with the whole "bath salt" thing.
 
That's a shame. Twenty years in prison is a long time for such a shitty high as methylone.
 
sekio said:
they're singing like birds. either the charges are huge or these guys all have no spines. this is the guy who basically wrote the dea a novel about a well known and popular drug source board, as admin of said board, and dint tell anyone he was participating in a bust till after the fact. we all know what happens to snitches tho i guess

that said i am not suprised at all
Click to expand...

Board that starts with the letters "Dm" right? Trying to see if we thinking of the same board...
 
szuko000 said:
Stuff like this makes me wish I cashed in on this venture. If only people quit while they were ahead.
Click to expand...

Something i read on one of the boards related to the ordeal right before the mcscroggin's shebang went down still resonates, "if we had only kept to the psychedelics, and didn't bother with all the stimulants, maybe things would have turned out different."

Bottom line, any time you have individuals importing multi-kilo amounts of rc's, trouble is just around the corner. It will come sooner, if they are using them personally, or in any way distribute them in a manner not consistent with the NFHC cover often used. Even then, when you do it 100% kosher, its still a cover thats not bulletproof, and you can easily get hit by the feds/dhs at their discretion. I mean theres no market for legitimate research needs for these chems in the multi-kilo amounts, let alone the fact that the researchers cant find domestic chemists to synth it for them rather than ordering from some shifty Chinese vendor.
 
if the kid's lucky he'll just get 5 years. this is probably his first offense, but it is a big one tho. so who knows.

Unbreakable said:
Board that starts with the letters "Dm" right? Trying to see if we thinking of the same board...
Click to expand...

that's not the board sekio was talking about in that post. however, sekio was mistakenly referring to another similar case.

daytryptr said:
Bottom line, any time you have individuals importing multi-kilo amounts of rc's, trouble is just around the corner. It will come sooner, if they are using them personally, or in any way distribute them in a manner not consistent with the NFHC cover often used. Even then, when you do it 100% kosher, its still a cover thats not bulletproof, and you can easily get hit by the feds/dhs at their discretion. I mean theres no market for legitimate research needs for these chems in the multi-kilo amounts, let alone the fact that the researchers cant find domestic chemists to synth it for them rather than ordering from some shifty Chinese vendor.
Click to expand...

NFHC wouldn't have mattered for this kid, he was selling methylone after it was made a schedule 1 drug. this isn't an analogue case.

it does seem like the feds jumped on this kid *right* after the stuff was made schedule 1 tho, meaning they were probably aware of his dealings on the grey market before the stuff became black market only.
 
They should go after china I mean this is the US I'm surprised they aren't bashing the Chinese government for not sending the CEO over for trial.

Still even if I had the drive to sell it I don't know anyone who would want methylone. My operation would be a failure lol
 
szuko000 said:
They should go after china I mean this is the US I'm surprised they aren't bashing the Chinese government for not sending the CEO over for trial.

Still even if I had the drive to sell it I don't know anyone who would want methylone. My operation would be a failure lol
Click to expand...
isn't methylone the rc ppl pass off as mdma (in pressed tabs)?
 
PlurPsyed said:
it's a pretty nice high imho
Click to expand...

I agree that it's a pleasant enough high, but it's weak and short-lived. What bothers me about this development is that some younger people I've encountered who have never had a decent, real 100+mg MDMA dose think they're getting the real thing with 'methylone molly,' and they are so not.

Also, taking heroic doses of methylone leads not into a more rolling type high but rather jittery stimulation, and I'm speaking from personal experience (several grams' worth).
 
bmxxx said:
isn't methylone the rc ppl pass off as mdma (in pressed tabs)?
Click to expand...

No, not really. It's a lot rarer to see methylone in pressed pills, mostly meth or piperazines or other RCs.

Methylone is almost always sold as "Molly".. or crystal "MDMA". It's like 4 times cheaper, the doses are around the same and the high is identical (for the untrained user). Down in Florida, I hear it's just about all that is sold as Molly anymore... it's really the same here, but there's some good stuff.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top