Ex-Marshall Hanks Sentenced for Spice & Bath Salts Scheme

PHOENIX – Yesterday, Kristopher Gale Hanks, 40, of Ashburn, Va., a former Federal Air Marshal, was sentenced by United States Senior District Judge Roslyn O. Silver to three years’ probation for his role in a drug conspiracy involving ‘spice’ and ‘bath salts’.

Hanks, who previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to deliver misbranded drugs into interstate commerce, had been instrumental in the production and sale of illicit designer drugs known as ‘spice’ and ‘bath salts’, which are often marketed under innocent-sounding names such as ‘incense’ or ‘potpourri’.

Through an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation, agents unearthed that Hanks was involved in making and selling ‘spice’ products. His involvement escalated when he created and sold a ‘bath salt’ product called ‘Flash Bang’, containing the stimulant compound 4-MEC, which he had procured from China.

Hanks’ descent into criminal activity began before his tenure with the Federal Air Marshal Service in 2011. He had been employed as a police officer in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Gilbert, Ariz., and served as a security contractor in Iraq for the Department of Defense.

The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), with Assistant U.S. Attorney D. J. Pashayan handling the prosecution. The case number is CR-16-0989-PHX-ROS, and the release number is 2017-007_Hanks.

For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/. Follow them on Twitter @USAO_AZ for updates.