A federal jury in the District of Utah on Tuesday convicted 40‑year‑old Devin Michael Tew, a West Jordan resident, of selling online kits that prosecutors said were designed to produce opioid‑rich poppy‑seed tea. Jurors found him guilty on a count tied to unlawful possession of drug‑manufacturing paraphernalia after hearing expert testimony about lab testing and product marketing. The verdict marks one of the more unusual recent prosecutions tied to the sale of unwashed poppy seeds on the open internet.
According to ABC4 Utah, prosecutors said Tew ran an online business selling "PoppySeed Wash" kits that included instructions for brewing the tea and materials the U.S. Attorney's Office says were "coated" with opiates. The station reports Tew was indicted in March 2024 and that investigators say he pulled roughly $9,500 to $10,000 from the operation on busy days. Sentencing has not been scheduled, ABC4 adds.
FDA testing and what the court heard
Court records show the FDA tested dozens of bottles labeled "PoppySeed Wash". Lab work on seed samples in 2020 detected codeine and thebaine, and a 2026 FDA chemist who brewed tea from unopened bottles reported morphine, codeine, and thebaine present in the liquid. The district judge denied defense motions to exclude that testing, leaving the evidence before the jury. Court documents describe the testing timeline and the Daubert hearing.
FDA flagged the business years ago
Years before the criminal case, the FDA had already taken issue with how Tew marketed his product. The agency issued a July 2018 warning letter to Devin Michael Tew, saying the PoppySeed Wash website and labels made medicinal claims that rendered the product a "drug" under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and therefore misbranded. An FDA warning letter criticized marketing that touted pain‑relief, opioid‑replacement, and other medical uses without approval.
Why poppy‑seed tea can be dangerous
Experts and safety advocates say the danger comes from unwashed poppy seeds and uneven opiate residue: small batches can vary wildly and brewing methods can extract enough morphine or thebaine to cause sedation or even overdose. Coverage and scientific summaries have documented fatal and serious cases tied to home‑brewed poppy‑seed tea and pushed for tighter oversight. As reported by Food Safety News and policy analysis from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the concentrations of opiate alkaloids vary enough that the same recipe can produce a harmless cup or a dangerous one.
Legal context
Prosecutors pursued the case under federal anti‑drug statutes that bar possession of materials used to manufacture controlled substances; court filings cite 21 U.S.C. § 843(a)(6) as central to the indictment. The government argued jurors could infer the kits' potential to yield opiates from the lab results and the product marketing. Court records include the judge's order denying pretrial challenges to that evidence.
Enforcement trend
Federal prosecutors have pursued sellers of unprocessed poppy seeds in other districts: in 2025, a Missouri seller was sentenced after pleading guilty to distributing raw poppy seeds that could be brewed into tea, a case the U.S. Attorney described as involving DEA and FDA investigators. That prosecution illustrates a broader enforcement trend against businesses that market seeds for the extraction of opiates, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
With the guilty verdict in hand, Tew now faces a federal sentencing hearing; ABC4 Utah reports no date has been set. Defense lawyers may file post‑trial motions, and an appeal is possible, while health advocates and regulators will likely watch what sentence the judge imposes.
