The Oregonian
A 53-year-old Salem man was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in prison for helping operate a multimillion-dollar marijuana drug trafficking operation that marketed butane hash oil and THC-infused candy and cereals across the U.S. and overseas.
Antonio Irving Benjamin and his accomplice infused and sprayed THC oils on legitimate brands of cereals and candy and then marketed them in packages that mimicked the popular brands, prosecutors said.
The colorful packaging used the name of actual products such as Whoppers, Reese’s, Cocoa Puffs and Rice Krispies, according to a federal affidavit. Federal investigators seized pallets of the packaging from the warehouse that Benjamin supervised.
“Selling illegal THC and psilocybin products in this manner reflects a level of recklessness not usually observed in drug trafficking organizations,” according to Assistant U.S Attorneys Kemp Strickland and Christopher Cardani.
They argued that Benjamin was motivated by greed, earning millions of dollars in profit.
He and co-defendant Jered Jeremiah Hayward used encrypted communications such as Telegram to market, sell and process orders and used straw businesses to mask the profit from their drug trafficking, the prosecutors said.
Benjamin had no permits or licenses to produce or sell these products; the entire operation was illegal, according to the prosecutors.
Search warrants executed at the warehouse and homes resulted in the seizure of more than $1 million in cash, $400,000 worth of cryptocurrency, more than $400,000 worth of gold and silver, 12 vehicles, boats, a Rolex watch and other jewelry, according to Strickland and Cardani.
Benjamin used the proceeds from the illegal drug operation to buy a home in Silverton, they said.
Benjamin pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 1,000 kilogram or more of marijuana.
