A Hephzibah man has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison for selling synthetic drugs by mail order.
Conway James Rhinehart, 43, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. He was selling the synthetic cannabinoid a-PHP, and Eutylone, known as “bath salts,” said Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.
Chief U.S. District Judge J. Randal Hall sentenced Rhinehart to 108 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Hall ordered Rhinehart to forfeit $50,000 in seized funds.
According to court records, authorities discovered Rhinehart receiving “large quantities” of Alpha-PHP at two mobile homes on Lake Erie Drive near Hephzibah. Authorities also intercepted other packages of drugs inbound from Amsterdam, the records said.
“Conway James Rhinehart was so brazen in his illegal drug-selling operation that even after he was indicted and freed on pre-trial release, he continued selling illegal drugs until taken into federal custody,” Steinberg said.
He was packaging, reselling and shipping the drugs nationwide through a website, marketing them as “energy powders” or “energy crystals,” her statement said.
“Removing this offender from the Richmond County community will effectively disrupt a major illegal synthetic drug operation,” said Robert J. Murphy, special agent-in-charge of the Atlanta office of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Rhinehart worked as a massage therapist and had a business called “Rhinehart Distributions,” according to his LinkedIn profile.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations, DEA and the Pennsylvania State Police.
It was prosecuted for the Southern District of Georgia by assistant U.S. attorneys L. Alexander Hamner, Matthew A. Josephson and Jeremiah L. Johnson.
Susan McCord is a staff writer with The Augusta Press. Reach her at susan@theaugustapress.com
