Possible DNM bust? Paging Gwern, et al

http://www.loudountimes.com/news/article/area_businessman_leesburg_commission_member_arrested_on_drug_charges

Hmm. Guy who owns IT company gets busted for having 7g of molly and some roxys shipped to him. Reading the press surrounding this, all I can say is that if the mail guy showed up at 9pm with a priority mail pak for me, I'm just saying no thanks.


Comments


[13 Points] entactoBob:

There's a chance he could beat it. But one thing that's always pissed me off is how it's automatically possession with intent to distribute. PWID carries more time than simple possession, but because of the amount being over an arbitrarily chosen number, the prosecutor doesn't need any more proof & can conclude he obviously was going to sell.

To put it in perspective, that would be like arresting someone for not having a liquor license after seeing her wine cellar or liquor cabinet. I mean, that much booze? Clearly gonna start selling it…


[12 Points] doublemintt:

First comment

The package was marked “return to sender.” Tom is a health nut who eats organic foods and doesnt even put sugar in his body. Cant see him putting these toxins in it. Tom is a well-educated business owner. Can’t see him jeopardizing his business or his reputation by sending himself illegal drugs.. That would be stupid, and Tom isnt stupid.

Looks like he knew he was going to be A) raided or B) didnt order the drugs and the teen next door is PISSED


[9 Points] huh_whut:

A poster in the comments claiming to be him. I changed the name in case this is not him writing or later deleted: Thu, Mar 27 at 09:04 AM by | Report this comment

None of my relatives have posted on here as suggested but this is Txx Wxxxxn, the accused posting now. I appreciate that many of the posts on here are positive and supportive and that others realize that errors are often made by the authorities and it is a bad idea to rush to judgment.

The allegations and charges brought against me are false. This article is incorrect in accusing me of accepting the packages. I never accepted the packages, they were merely delivered to my home. I have no control over what is sent to my address. It is clear that I was targeted and my address was used by others to receive packages of illegal drugs. I knew nothing of the contents of these packages, they were never opened and I had marked them Return to Sender as they were not from senders I was expecting anything from. Prior to being able to mail them back to the sender I was arrested by local police due to a rush to judgment. I will be cleared of these erroneous charges.


[5 Points] None:

[deleted]


[5 Points] hugsfordrugs:

Wow, a news article actually used the correct chemical name for ecstasy! Amazing.

Also, that dude looks like the gay DEA agent from Weeds.


[4 Points] None:

[deleted]


[4 Points] gwern:

Looks like a local case:

Watson's preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 22 in the general district court.

Could be hard to get documents for, since I can't check PACER for this one.

EDIT: turns out to be easy to pull it up in the Virginia system, Loudoun general court (case GC14001226-00; http://epwsgdp1.courts.state.va.us/gdcourts/criminalDetail.do ), but the entry doesn't come with any useful documents like the complaint. Irritating. I guess I'll check back in a few months.

EDITEDIT: the police apparently know nothing about the package and he got off: https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkNetMarkets/comments/22thjl/possible_dnm_bust_paging_gwern_et_al/cktjfl4


[4 Points] None:

I wish reports like this would have more information as to why they even started looking at him and his mail. It's rare for domestic shipments to warrant LE to even start investigating to begin with, let alone a single order. They had to have been watching already. And if the package was unopened and marked return to sender, I definitely agree with the commenter that said he was either worried he was going to be busted or it was genuinely not his.

That said, way to ruin a life over a really small amount of drugs. Assuming DNM order, it can't be from LE hoping to find the bigger fish, either. That's a lot of MDMA for one person but that's only one pulled tooth worth of personal use for the oxy. I really like seeing the comments on the article and how people just seem pissed over the bust, not pissed at his actions.


[2 Points] LongLiveThe_King:

Wow. That guy lost fucking everything.


[2 Points] twigburst:

If he had a clean house and he actually marked the package return to sender he can beat it, if not he can probably get probation.


[2 Points] None:

What DNM vendor sells in the US that has both 5+ gram quantity of MDMA and Oxy? We could probably deduce the vendor.


[2 Points] possiblelandmarkcase:

This is going to be a landmark case as this is one of the first cases (i believe) to test the whole legal premise of plausible-deniability-by-mail that the entire scene revolves around.

Anyone else know of a previous case of being arrested before the package was opened?


[1 Points] gwern:

Followup: http://www.reddit.com/r/DarkNetMarkets/comments/2ae04z/follow_up_on_the_dude_who_had_a_cd_over_85g_mdma/


[1 Points] gwern:

Still nothing useful in the Loudoun General District Court records. However, checking in Google for followup articles, I did find something useful: http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/25055460/police-man-allegedly-used-mail-to-transport-drug-molly

Leesburg police say the U.S. Postal Service was used to make an illegal delivery last Wednesday night on Davis Avenue SW to the home of 41-year-old Thomas C. Watson. In that delivery, according to police, were 10 oxycodone pills and 8 1/2 grams of MDMA or ecstasy -- also known as Molly....Lt. Dube says they are not sure where the package came from, though experts say Molly is mostly made in Mexico and China and can be ordered over the internet. "We work with the postal inspection service and when they do have suspicious packages such as these, they'll contact the local law enforcement agencies," Lt. Dube says. "We'll work together with them on a joint investigation to recover these items and make charges if necessary."...Leesburg police tell us they are not sure where the drugs they seized last week were heading.

So they don't know where the drugs were from or heading, and apparently it was a tipoff from a postal inspector which they then bungled as the case failed:

http://www.loudountimes.com/news/article/drug_charges_dropped_against_prominent_leesburg_businessman543

Drug charges against a prominent Leesburg businessman were dropped today prior to a preliminary hearing in Loudoun County General District Court due to a lack of evidence.

So at least we can probably say no DNM-related investigation was being done.

Assuming he wasn't being used as a drop or something, it seems that by keeping a clean house (their search warrant turned up nothing but their own package) and not signing for it, he was able to beat it. Good job!


[-7 Points] pills4less:

He should have ordered from TorEscrow. All sellers there must pass secret shipping test!