"Spice" Dealers Sentenced In Federal Court

United States Attorney Kenyen R. Brown of the Southern District of Alabama announced that two dealers involved in the manufacture and distribution of “spice,” or synthetic marijuana, were sentenced in federal court.  Shannon Christopher Parks, 23, and Cordale Eason, 24, both of Gulfport, Mississippi, entered guilty pleas to the charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance during early 2016.  Court documents show that Parks and Eason were arrested by federal and local authorities when they came to Mobile to pick up a shipment of the chemicals used to treat the “spice,” which had been imported from China.  This chemical, AB-FUBINACA, was at that time a schedule I controlled substance, and it was delivered in powder form.  Parks and Eason were indicted on the charges in October of 2015.

 United States District Court Judge Ginny Granade imposed the sentences.  In Parks’ case, Judge Granade imposed a sentence of 36 months imprisonment.  As for Eason, the judge imposed a sentence of 57 months imprisonment, finding that Eason’s longer criminal history justified the difference in the length of the prison terms.  Judge Granade found that neither defendant could pay a fine, but she ordered both to pay $100 special mandatory assessment.  She also ordered that each would serve a three-year term of supervised release, to commence upon their discharge from prison.

The case was investigated by the United States Postal Service Postal Inspectors, the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, and the Department of Homeland Security Investigations.  It was prosecuted in the United States Attorney’s Office by Assistant United States Attorney Gloria Bedwell.