From China to Tulsa to buyers on the dark web using cryptocurrency, that’s how prosecutors say a Tulsa man was running a huge, illegal, online drug operation.
A federal judge sentenced 42-year-old Aaron Michael Thomas to 6.5 years in prison, on a count of Introduction of Misbranded Drug into Interstate Commerce, and a count of Maintaining a Drug-Involved Premises for the distribution of Pregabalin, a painkiller.
Prosecutors say Thomas took deliberate steps to avoid detection by U.S. Customs when shipping the drugs into the United States.
But agents testified they seized 270 pounds of 21 different drugs from Thomas’s home, including an animal sedative called Xylazine.
They say some were packaged with misleading and false labels and had no warnings or directions for safe use.
Thomas was also convicted of Possession of Child Pornography.
59-year-old Darren Doil Means, who prosecutors say was an accomplice of Thomas in the operation, was sentenced to 3 years of probation.
Sign Up
