Friday, March 7, 2014

Federal Jury Convicts Twin Falls Woman of Conspiring to Sell Drug Paraphernalia

POCATELLO – Stephanie Nagel, 40, of Twin Falls, Idaho, was convicted yesterday in United States District Court in Pocatello of conspiracy to sell drug paraphernalia, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. A sentencing date has not been set. U.S. District Judge Fred L. Van Sickle of the Eastern District of Washington presided over the trial.

Evidence presented at trial showed that from 2007 to 2012, Nagel owned and operated a business called the Smoke N’ Head on Washington Street in Twin Falls, Idaho. Nagel sold various items of drug paraphernalia from the shop, including marijuana pipes and assorted paraphernalia used for marijuana and other controlled substances. Evidence also showed that Nagel had previously sold a substance commonly referred to as “spice,” which was subsequently determined to be a controlled substance analogue.

Nagel faces up to three years in prison, a maximum fine of $100,000, and one year of supervised release.

This case was part of a larger enforcement operation, which included 14 search warrants that were executed in July 2012 by law enforcement agencies at 11 locations in Twin Falls County, and three locations in Tigard, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington. The warrants were related to a nationwide law enforcement action against the synthetic designer drug industry responsible for the production and sale of dangerous and deadly drugs that are often marketed as bath salts, “spice,” incense, or plant food, which are prohibited under the federal controlled substance analogue statute. Operation Log Jam targeted every level of the synthetic drug industry, including retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers, in more than 80 U.S. cities.

In a related case, Joshua P. Becker, of Portland, Oregon, was sentenced in December 2013 to 48 months in prison for conspiracy to launder money. In October 2013, Gary E. Nagel and Joshua Cserepes, both of Twin Falls, Idaho, and Shyloh Becker, of Portland, Oregon, were each sentenced to 36 months’ probation and fined $500 for related charges, including possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance analogue, conspiracy to sell drug paraphernalia, and aiding and abetting in a monetary transaction in property derived from specified unlawful activity, respectively. Allen W. Nagel, of Twin Falls, is scheduled to be sentenced on March 17, 2014, by Judge Brian Ted Stewart of the District of Utah. He pleaded guilty in June 2013, to conspiracy to launder money.

The joint investigation of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), is led by the Drug Enforcement Administration in conjunction with Twin Falls City Police Department, Twin Falls County Sheriff's Office, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Idaho State Police, Ada County Sheriff's Office, Nampa City Police Department, Meridian City Police Department, Gooding County Sheriff's Office, Cassia County Sheriff's Office, and Minidoka County Sheriff's Office.

The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations.