Salem businessman Jered Hayward, 45, has been dealt a 13-year prison term for his illegal narcotics enterprise, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon. The convicted career criminal engaged in manufacturing and distributing THC and psilocybin products on a national scale, culminating in a sentence totalling 156 months behind bars after a guilty plea for intent to distribute and money laundering conspiracies.
Operating without any semblance of legality, Hayward's operations, headquartered in Salem, turned popular cereal and candy products into contraband. They were laced with high-potency THC oils and ingeniously packed to mirror mainstream snacks. While court documents clarify that minors were not his specific target, the deceptive packaging had the potential of fooling children with its resemblance to their usual treats – a detail that was overshadowed by the fine print warnings concerning the THC content. In running his illicit activities, Hayward and his team used encrypted methods like Telegram to conduct their affairs from marketing to processing sales, while setting up fake businesses to hide the money trails.
The consequences of Hayward's criminal acts were not limited to prison time alone. He also has to part with a substantial amount of wealth accumulated through his drug empire. The forfeiture includes a range of assets from the actual production facility in Salem to more than a million bucks in cold cash, and even a collection of vehicles and jewelry, featuring a Rolex, turning Hayward's life a complete 180 from the dark market kingpin to a federal inmate.
This extensive case was the result of methodical work conducted by an alphabet soup of law enforcement, including Homeland Security Investigations and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation. Found tucked away among their collections were $640,000 in cryptocurrency and bank funds, and a lavish luxury spread of more than $400,000 worth of gold and silver, showing just how meticulous and vast Hayward’s operations were. The case saw its day in court thanks to the effort of Assistant United States Attorneys Kemp Strickland and Christopher Cardani.
Hayward’s past legal troubles haven't been on the light side either. This sentencing adds to his prior convictions; the rap sheet includes past run-ins for marijuana and fentanyl trafficking. According to the statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office, his history renders him a "career criminal" under federal law, a title that has now earned him over a decade in federal custody.
