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Press Release

Portsmouth Man Sentenced To 240 Months In Analogue Drug Distribution Conspiracy

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Virginia

NORFOLK, Va. – Michael Lee Haddock, 32, of Portsmouth, Va., was sentenced to a statutory maximum of 240 months in prison and three years of supervised release for conspiring to distribute analogue drugs for over a year using the internet and the United States Postal Service. 

            Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; John P. Torres, Special Agent in Charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Washington, D.C.; Keith A. Fixel, Inspector in Charge of the Charlotte Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service; and Chief Edward Hargis of the Portsmouth Police Department, made the announcement after the sentence was returned. 

Michael Haddock was charged under a criminal information and entered a guilty plea on December 5, 2012 to conspiring to distribute analogues of controlled substances, which Haddock had been importing from China for over a year. Analogue drugs, often called “research chemicals” or “bath salts,” typically have only slightly different chemical structures to a Schedule I or II drug and are created to attempt to avoid bans by state and federal governments.   In addition to a similar chemical structure, analogue drugs have a similar or greater effect on the human body than the scheduled drug when ingested.  Haddock was ordering analogues drugs, such as Methylone (now scheduled), 4-FMA, MXE, 2C-C, 2C-E, 2C-I, 4-MEC, Butylone, Ethylone, Pentylone, and multiple other substances.  The total amount of drugs attributed to Haddock, according to court documents, was over 27 kilograms of analogues or controlled substances in the year-long conspiracy. 

Haddock had used multiple websites and email addresses to receive orders for analogue drugs, which he would package in his Portsmouth home and send throughout the United States using the United States Postal Service. Multiple powders, scales, spoons, and packaging materials were located in Haddock’s home in February 2012.  In addition, there were two firearms stored with the drugs. 

            This case was investigated by HSI’s Hampton Roads Border Enforcement Security Task Force (HR-BEST), the Portsmouth Police Department and the United States Postal Inspection Service. Special Assistant United States Attorney Amy E. Cross is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.
Updated March 18, 2015