United States v. Khan, No. 18-1598 (7th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseMohsin and Khan pleaded guilty to conspiring to sell drugs (commonly known as synthetic marijuana) misbranded as incense or potpourri (18 U.S.C. 371) during approximately eight months in 2011 from a store Mohsin owned in the Fox Valley Mall in Aurora, Illinois. A customer died in an auto accident after smoking the product. In their plea agreements, Mohsin and Khan admitted that the synthetic marijuana products they sold contained inadequate consumer warnings, failed to identify the products’ active ingredients, and were mislabeled in an effort to mislead regulators regarding the products’ status as drugs—all in violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. The district court found that the defendants consciously or recklessly disregarded the risk that the mislabeled products could cause death or serious injury, significantly increasing their advisory ranges under U.S.S.G. 2B1.1(b)(15)(A). The Seventh Circuit vacated and remanded for resentencing. The record before the district court, while supporting a conclusion that Mohsin and Khan knew customers (and perhaps teenagers) were smoking the products to obtain marijuana‐like highs, did not support a determination that either Mohsin or Khan knew the products presented lethal risks to users.
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