Former Cop Convicted of Selling Date Rape Drug Via Internet

A former police officer from Sleepy Hollow was convicted Thursday of selling a date rape drug.

Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Robert Smutek was found guilty on four counts of distributing and possessing with intent to distribute 1,4 butanediol, an illegal analogue of the date rape drug gamma hydroxybutyric acid, or GHB.

According to the allegations and evidence presented at trial, Smutek, a former police officer and member of a drug task force, operated a website called Online Coral Calcium that sold patent medicines.

Beginning in 2009, Smutek sold “Potion 9” as a “mood enhancer” which supposedly made users feel euphoric, Bharara said.

While the label said it contained a tree root derivative and other natural ingredients, it actually contained an industrial solvent that converts to a date rape drug when ingested.

Smutek testified at trial that he sold more than 200,000 bottles of Potion 9 over five years, taking in over $1.2 million in revenue.

Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Smutek was sent to prison after the verdict. He is scheduled for sentencing September 8, 2016.