Woman ordered to forfeit $2 million in designer drug case

A Texas woman who sold illicit designer drugs made in Kansas was ordered Tuesday to spend five years in federal prison and forfeit $2 million in proceeds from the criminal activity.

Michelle Reulet, 37, and Michael Myers, both of Montgomery, sold the drugs under names like Pump It, Head Trip, Black Arts and Grave Digger through their Houston-area business, Bully Wholesale, knowing that customers were using them to get high, U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said in a news release. The labels on the drugs, meanwhile, marketed them as incense, potpourri and shoe deodorizer. They claimed the substances were safe and not meant for human consumption and gave no warning about possible harmful side effects, according to the release.

Reulet and Myers bought the drugs from 61-year-old Tracy Picanso and 59-year-old Roy Ehrett, who made them at their Olathe-based business and sold them to wholesalers. Some of the drugs mimicked stimulants and the active ingredient in marijuana and were mixed in buckets using immersion blenders connected to a drill, Beall has previously said.

Reulet pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, Beall said.

Myers, who ran Bully Wholesale with her, was sentenced earlier this month to the two years he’d already served for his role in the manufacture and selling of the drugs. Picanso and Ehrett are scheduled for sentencing June 15, according to Beall’s news release.

This story was originally published May 31, 2017 at 12:02 PM with the headline "Woman ordered to forfeit $2 million in designer drug case."