Florida Man Sentenced for Shipping Synthetic Drugs to Southwest Virginia

ABINGDON, VIRGINIA. – Michael John Harrigan, a Florida man who was convicted of conspiring to distribute Schedule I controlled substances in the form of synthetic cannabinoids, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court here to 36 months in federal prison, United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen announced.

Harrigan, 60, and a co-defendant, Jared Andrea Roa, 30, of Tampa, Fla., pleaded guilty in November 2019 to conspiring to distribute Schedule I controlled substances in the form of synthetic cannabinoids. Additionally, Harrigan agreed to forfeit $500,000 in criminal proceeds to the United States.

According to court documents, Harrigan and Roa admitted to packaging and shipping large quantities of AB-FUBINACA, a Schedule I synthetic cannabinoid, throughout the United States via the United States Postal Service, and other shipping services. Quantities of these drugs were sent to the Western District of Virginia from Florida, including packages that were intercepted before delivery in Coeburn, Va. in October 2014.  Additionally, in September 2017, a search of a storage unit belonging to Roa in Tampa, Fla. yielded quantities of AB-FUBINACA, packaging materials, and address labels listing Harrigan’s name and address. Harrigan’s illegal profits from this drug activity were found to have been at least $500,000.

The investigation of the case was conducted by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, United States Postal Inspection Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, the Wise County Sheriff’s Office, and the Southwest Virginia Drug Task Force.  Assistant United States Attorneys Lena Busscher and Zachary T. Lee prosecuted the case for the United States.