In a recent federal case, Antonio Irving Benjamin, a Salem resident, faced the music with a 12-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to drug manufacturing and money laundering charges; this follows a large-scale operation involving THC and psilocybin-infused edibles that mimicked common food products, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon.
The 53-year-old’s past is marked by criminal activity, including two prior federal convictions, leading to his designation as a career criminal under federal law. Alongside co-conspirator Jered Hayward, he ran an operation out of Salem that employed numerous individuals, with their products sold across the U.S. and beyond. While court documents noted no direct targeting of minors, the packaging posed risks due to its resemblance to common snacks and the difficulty children may have in recognizing THC warnings, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Benjamin was not only supervising the manufacturing process but also oversaw the encryption-based marketing and laundering activities, using Telegram for communication and false-front businesses to obscure the illicit money flow, with the entirety of the enterprise operating outside legal bounds, as he had no legitimate licenses or permits for production or sale of such products.
Upon his plea agreement, Benjamin consented to forfeit assets totaling upwards of $2 million. This haul includes his Salem production site, cash, cryptocurrency, precious metals, jewelry, and an array of vehicles and property, according to the asset list provided by the authorities. This case became a joint effort undertaken by Homeland Security Investigations, the Portland Police Bureau, and several other federal and state law enforcement agencies, leading to a hefty blow against the illegal drug trade in Oregon. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kemp Strickland and Christopher Cardani.
