Crofton Businessman Sentenced in Drug-Related Murder

A Crofton businessman convicted of killing a business associate in an alleged coast- to-coast marijuana trafficking operation has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison, reports WBAL TV.

The Frederick News-Post reported that an Anne Arundel County jury convicted Michael Stahlnecker, 51, of first-degree murder on Feb. 26 after a three-week trial.

Prosecutors said Stahlnecker shot John Ryan, 37, of Frederick in the head and left his body in the trunk of Ryan’s Lexus in Derwood in December 2012, WTOP reports.

Stahlnecker owned Computer Power Cabling Corp. and Levitating Sports. Prosecutors produced evidence the men moved marijuana from California to Maryland by hiding it in shipments of electrical generators.

They say Stahlnecker killed Ryan for personal and financial reasons.

Defense attorney Steven Wrobel said the state’s case was based solely on circumstantial evidence.