Justice Cannabinoid Mixer Handed 10-Year Sentence

JUSTICE, IL -- A Justice man was handed a 10-year sentence by a federal judge for manufacturing cannabinoids into a smokeable drug. Khalid Hamdan, 51, was convicted by jury last year on one count of conspiracy to manufacture the synthetic cannabinoid XLR 11, and two counts of possessing XLR 11 with the intent to distribute. The sentence, imposed by U.S. District Judge Manish S. Shah, is the highest sentence to date in the Northern District of Illinois for manufacturing a synthetic cannabinoid, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Hamdan mixed synthetic cannabinoids with leaves and other substances, creating his own blends. He then sold wholesale quantities of the drug to customers under various brand names, including “Diablo,” “Bomb Marley,” “Joker” and “7H Hydro.”

Federal prosecutors said that Hamdan made his mixes at storage units in Bridgeview and Chicago Ridge, where he stored the XLR 11 chemical and the finished K2 product. Law enforcement officers searched the Chicago Ridge storage unit in 2014 where they found tools and products for manufacturing drugs, including raw XLR 11 power, cans of acetone, bottles of flavoring, boxes of untreated damiana tea leaves and boxes for packaging. XLR 11 is a chemical compound used in synthetic cannabinoids that mimic the effects of THC.

“Synthetic cannabinoids are often falsely marketed as the ‘legal,’ equivalent alternative to marijuana, but the effects are much stronger, more adverse, and less predictable than marijuana,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelly M. Greening and Matthew Schneider argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “Defendant was a large-scale drug trafficker who manufactured and sold kilograms and kilograms of these drugs to customers across Illinois, Indiana and other states.”

Once manufactured, the drug was sold to consumers in baggies with professionally printed, animated designer labels. According to studies, synthetic marijuana compounds are linked to a number of serious side effects, including seizures, psychosis and even death.

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