TOPEKA, KAN. – A Texas woman pleaded guilty Monday to selling designer drugs manufactured in Kansas, U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said.
Michelle Reulet, 37, Montgomery, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Reulet and co-defendant Michael Myers owned a business in the Houston area called Bully Wholesale. They sold products that were purchased from co-defendants Tracy Picanso and Roy Ehrett in Olathe, Kan.
The products Reulet’s company sold designer drugs marketed under names such as Pump It, Head trip, Black Arts and Grave Digger. In her plea, Reulet admitted she knew buyers consumed her products to get high, despite labels making false claims that the products were safe and were not intended for human consumption. The products were marketed as incense, potpourri and shoe deodorizer. Their labels did not warn of possible harmful effects.
Reulet’s business had gross sales of more than $2 million.
Sentencing is set for April 17. Both parties have agreed to recommend a sentence of five years in federal prison and a civil forfeiture of almost $2 million.
Beall commended the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Food and Drug Administration – Office of Criminal Investigations, the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, Customs and Border Protection, the FBI, the Overland Park Police Department, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, the Olathe Police Department, the St. Joseph Police Department and the Buchanan County Drug Strike Force, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanya Treadway and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Mattivi for their work on the case.