Iowa Smoke Shop Owner Sentenced to 20 Years for Selling K2

A Cedar Rapids smoke shop owner who sold K2 and fled the country after being charged in 2014 has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.

Mohammad Al Sharairei, 47, was found guilty of maintaining a premises for the distribution of controlled substance analogues and conspiring to distribute controlled substance analogues on September 12, 2022.

The evidence at trial showed that Al Sharairei and his wife owned and operated Puff N Stuff II on First Avenue in Cedar Rapids in 2012 and 2013. In June 2013, federal agents raided the store and seized thousands of packets of K2, which were labeled as “novelty items,” “potpourri,” and “incense.” The substances in the packages contained synthetic cannabinoids called PB-22 and 5F-PB-22, which are far more potent than marijuana and have been associated with severe psychological and physical effects, including death.

Despite labeling the products as “not for human consumption” and having a store policy that customers could not talk about smoking the products, Al Sharairei himself smoked the “incense.” Even after the June 2013 DEA raid, Al Sharairei continued selling synthetic cannabinoids, and in August 2013, he and his wife called the police to report a theft of synthetic cannabinoids from a vehicle at their Cedar Rapids residence.

Seized store records from Puff N Stuff II showed that between January 2012 and June 26, 2013, the store had sold over $1.3 million in synthetic cannabinoid products. At sentencing, the judge found that Al Sharairei was responsible for over 78 kilograms of synthetic cannabinoids.

Al Sharairei was sentenced to 240 months’ imprisonment on each count, to run concurrently, and was ordered to forfeit $425,000 in drug proceeds. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. Al Sharairei is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program through a cooperative effort of the DEA Task Force, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations.

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