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Rasheed Ali Muhammad,42, was sentenced Monday to a total of 1,440 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and possessing with intent to distribute bath salts, a recreational designer drug.
Muhammad was also ordered to pay a $25,000 fine and restitution of $121,425.61 to United Parcel Service, the U.S. attorney said.
According to the U.S. attorney, Muhammad was ordering chemicals to produce spice and bath salts from manufacturers in the People’s Republic of China in 2012 and then marketing them for sale on websites in the United States. Muhammad was shipping these products through the use of fraudulent UPS accounts. His co-defendant, Roslyn Chapman from Gulfport pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute.
Last November, a narcotics task force seized more than 150 pounds of synthetic marijuana and 22 pounds of bath salts and Ecstasy from a warehouse at the Connecticut Innovation Center as well as an apartment on Sunshine Circle in Bridgeport in connection with the case. The street value of the drugs was worth more than $1.5 million, according to the Connecticut Post.
Authorities said millions of dollars worth of the drugs were coming into Bridgeport, being repackaged and distributed to points in Mississippi and other states. It is believed to have been one of the largest drug distribution operations in the country, the Connecticut Post said.
In January, 2015, Muhammad was found guilty by a jury after a five-day trial in U.S. District Court in Gulfport.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Ocean Springs and Gulfport Police Departments and the Connecticut State Police. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Meynardie.
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