UTICA, NEW YORK - Ryan Canfield, age 40, of New Haven, Connecticut, was sentenced today to serve 12 years in prison, to be followed by 6 years of post-imprisonment supervised release, for conspiring to distribute the controlled substance methylone.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt, New York Division, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Methylone is an analogue of MDMA - and often marketed as ecstasy - that has been a scheduled drug since October 2011.
On April 22, 2016, after a 4-day trial, a jury convicted Canfield of conspiring with others to distribute methylone, as well as on 8 counts of using a communication facility to facilitate the commission of a felony under the Controlled Substances Act.
The evidence at trial demonstrated that Canfield imported substantial quantities of methylone from manufacturers in China and redistributed that methylone to other distributors in the United States. Canfield made arrangements with co-conspirators to receive, on his behalf, kilograms of methylone from Chinese distributors and sell that methylone to users in the United States and abroad. The evidence at trial further demonstrated that Canfield sold numerous other controlled substances over the Internet, including through an online storefront called “The Online Source."
Canfield, whose criminal history United States District Judge David N. Hurd described as “virtually uninterrupted," was also found to have obstructed justice by, among other things, violating a Protective Order that governed the use of evidence in the case.
This case was investigated by the DEA, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey C. Coffman and Wayne A. Myers.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
