They dubbed themselves online as the “rickandmortyshop” and shipped stuffed animals across the country, but federal investigators allege the suspects behind the darknet business were shipping toys filled with methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin.
On Thursday, Jerrell Eugene Anderson, a 34-year-old from Santa Clarita and the alleged leader of the ring, was sentenced to 96 months in federal prison for the scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s office announced.
Anderson and his co-conspirators used darknet marketplaces to sell the drugs, prosecutors allege, shipping the stuffed animals from U.S. post offices. The darknet is a part of the internet that can be accessed only through special software.
On the darknet, the ring advertised its illicit business with monikers such as “Drugpharmacist” and “rickandmortyshop,” in reference to the popular adult cartoon, according to prosecutors.
The group used stash houses in the San Fernando Valley to deliver the drugs hidden in stuffed animals.
The scheme ran from at least July 2018 until March 2019.
In August 2018, prosecutors allege, one of those packages reached a customer in Knoxville, Tenn., who died after using the heroin.
Anderson pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, one count of possession of heroin with the intent to distribute, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Other defendants in the investigation, including Christopher Canion Von Holton, 37; Kenneth Lashawn Hadley, 37; Adan Sepulveda; and Jackie Walter Burns, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, according to the U.S. Justice Department.