A Rogersville meadery co-owner - charged before the startup got off the ground - admitted his participation in a multimillion-dollar scheme to distribute synthetic cannabinoids, aka K2.
Brandon Franklin, 28, of Springfield, pleaded guilty Sept. 17 to mail fraud and money laundering charges in the scheme involving distribution of 2.2 kilograms of the substance, according to a news release from the office of Tammy Dickinson, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
Franklin - who with family members co-owned Hellbender Meadery, which never came to fruition - admitted he engaged in mail fraud by selling and shipping, via FedEx, Kryp2nite products, which were falsely labeled as incense not for human consumption, but were in fact meant to be used as a drug. Through his Springfield business, ThirdEye, Franklin manufactured and distributed K2 to retail outlets in the Queen City, Joplin and elsewhere. According to invoices seized during the investigation, Franklin charged roughly $3 per gram of synthetic cannabinoid and deposited roughly $6.8 million into his bank accounts between Oct. 29, 2009, and Nov. 6, 2012, according to the release.
Franklin also pleaded guilty to the money laundering charge of conducting unlawful financial transactions and attempting to conceal or disguise their source.
Under the terms of the guilty plea, Franklin is required to forfeit the money judgment of $6.8 million; real estate in Springfield, Rogersville, Springfield, Ore., and Redding, Calif.; over $535,000 in additional funds contained in several bank accounts; and investment funds totaling $267,632, according to the release.
Under federal statutes, Franklin could face up to 40 years in federal prison without parole and a fine of up to $750,000.
Franklin, along with his sister and father, in late 2012 had planned to open Rogersville startup Hellbender Meadery LLC, but indictments on all three halted the plans. However, former Hellbender employees who were not involved in the drug conspiracy were successful in starting out on their own to to launch a meadery. Todd Rock, Andrew Steiger and Jhett Collins opened the Leaky Roof Meadery taproom in Buffalo in January, according to
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