Janell Thompson Was the Vice-President, Chief Financial Officer, and Co-Owner of a Business that Distributed Large Quantities of Smokeable Synthetic Cannabinoids
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that JANELL THOMPSON, the former vice president, chief financial officer, and co-owner of a consumer products wholesaler based in California, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald to 42 months in prison for using her business to distribute massive wholesale quantities of smokeable synthetic cannabinoids throughout the U.S. and to laundering the proceeds of that scheme. THOMPSON previously pled guilty before Judge Buchwald to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and a controlled substance analogue and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “Janell Thompson held herself out as a company CFO and vice president, but she was actually a drug trafficker and money launderer. Through her wholesale company, Thompson distributed massive quantities of illegal and potentially dangerous synthetic cannabinoids throughout the U.S. Thompson will now serve time in prison for her crimes."
According to the allegations in the Superseding Information, other documents filed in the case, and statements made in court:
From February 2014 until February 2019, THOMPSON was the vice president, chief financial officer, and co-owner of JK Wholesale LLC, a consumer products retailer based in Carlsbad, California. During that time period, THOMPSON used JK Wholesale LLC and its affiliated corporate entities to operate a scheme to distribute large quantities of smokeable synthetic cannabinoids (“SSC"), containing controlled substances and controlled substance analogues, throughout the U.S. SSC, colloquially referred to as “K2" or “Spice," can be addictive, but are often marketed as safe, legal alternatives to marijuana. In fact, SSC are not safe and may affect the brain much more powerfully than marijuana; their actual effects can be unpredictable and, in some cases, more dangerous or even life-threatening.
Some of the SSC distributed by THOMPSON’s scheme were branded with colorful graphics and distinctive names, including “Yolo." The branded SSC sometimes were misleadingly marketed as “herbal incense." Other of the SSC were distributed in bulk quantities.
* * *
In addition to a term of imprisonment, THOMPSON, 42, was also sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $1,000,000.
Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the New York City Police Department, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and Homeland Security Investigations. He also thanked the Wilmington, North Carolina, Resident Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina for their assistance. The long-term investigation of this case was partially funded by the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, a federal grant program that invests in law enforcement partnerships to build safe and healthy communities.
The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Daniel G. Nessim and Robert B. Sobelman are in charge of the prosecution.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
