Feds Accuse 6 Of Shipping A Ton of Weed To Ohio

LYNDHURST, OH — Six people have been indicted for attempting to mail a ton of marijuana from Hawaii, California and Oregon into Northeast Ohio, according to U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman's office. The group then allegedly tried to launder their drug profits.

"This group mailed thousands of pounds of marijuana to Greater Cleveland from the West Coast and then laundered nearly $350,000 in drug profits," Herdman said in a statement. "The leaders of this conspiracy paid for a lavish lifestyle with drug money, but now it will cost them federal prison."

Among the six people being indicted are Peter Reichert, 30, of Lyndhurst, Dustin Robinson, of East Liverpool, and Young Hee Park, of Broadview Heights. The other three men, William Murphy, So Young Park and Michael W. Spellman, hail from Hawaii

How The Scheme Reportedly Worked

The marijuana would be grown in Hawaii or procured from growers in California and Oregon, and then shipped to Ohio. The weed would be packed inside 5-pound foil coffee bags, which would also contain loose coffee beans. The packages would then be mailed to address throughout Northeast Ohio, including a location in Shaker Heights.

Reichert, the Lyndhurst resident, would receive the packages and then distribute them. Robinson, the East Liverpool resident, would receive package in Pennsylvania. Robinson would also mail cash back to Spellman in Hawaii.

Meanwhile, Young Hee Park, the Broadview Heights resident, would get cash payments in Ohio from different customers. Then he would mail the cash back to Hawaii. He reportedly used 25 different post offices throughout Greater Cleveland, Herdman's office says.

Some customers would also be told to deposit cash directly into an account at Fifth Third Bank. People would be told to use one of 15 different branches to avoid detection. A similar arrangement was made at PNC Bank.

Herdman's office says the defendants deposited at least $348,000 between 2014 and 2016. That money paid for airplane tickets between Cleveland and Hawaii, drones, a greenhouse, a Honda ATV and other purchases.

In total, the six defendants oversaw the shipping of about 1,113 packages of marijuana over a two-year span from 2014 to 2016. There were also about 965 shipments of bulk cash from Ohio to Hawaii, California and Oregon.

The investigation into the shipping scheme was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Internal Revenue Service and the Lake County Narcotics Agency.

“From coast to coast the IRS will take every step to ferret out those who attempt to launder the proceeds of illegal drug profits,” said Ryan L. Korner, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office. “The laundering of illegal drug profits is as important and essential to drug traffickers as the very distribution of their illegal drugs. Without these ill-gotten gains, the traffickers could not finance their organizations.”

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