Baltimore Psychedelic Mushroom Trafficker Sentenced to 13 Years in Prison

Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced George Victor Kraft, age 34, of Baltimore, today to 13 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute psilocybin, also known as psychedelic mushrooms, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Judge Bennett enhanced Kraft’s sentence upon finding that he was a career criminal based on a previous felony drug conviction and a conviction for attempted armed robbery.

According to his guilty plea, on November 13, 2008, postal inspectors at the mail facility in Linthicum Heights, Maryland inspected a parcel that had a return address which did not exist and which was addressed to a person who was not known at the recipient’s address. After a drug sniffing dog alerted on the parcel, the parcel was searched and 10 individually wrapped, vacuum-sealed plastic bags containing brown mushroom-like vegetation were found. The substance tested positive for psilocybin, and a postal alert device was placed inside the parcel.

The next day, an undercover postal inspector delivered the parcel to the address written on the package, a residence on South Ann Street in Baltimore. A woman accepted the package. A few hours later, Kraft and another man arrived at the residence and within minutes the beeper inside the parcel alerted that the parcel had been opened. Law enforcement agents searched the residence and found the opened parcel containing 3,564.5 grams of mushrooms containing psilocybin.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Baltimore City Police Department, the Anne Arundel County Police Department and the Maryland State Police for their investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorney Christopher J. Romano, who prosecuted the case.