Former Police Officer Sentenced to Prison for Selling Date Rape Drug

SLEEPY HOLLOW, NY — The former police officer who was convicted of selling a date rape drug was sentenced Friday.

Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Robert Smutek, 53, of Sleepy Hollow, was sentenced to eight years in prison for selling 1,4 butanediol, an illegal analogue of the date rape drug gamma hydroxybutyric acid, or GHB.

“Smutek, a former police officer, was peddling a date rape drug over the Internet from his suburban home,” Bharara said. “The sentence imposed on him by the court properly reflects the callous nature of his years-long drug dealing.”

In addition to his prison term, Smutek was sentenced to three years of supervised release.

He was convicted April 28, 2016.

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.

Image via Shutterstock.