Oregon man sentenced for drug-related charges

OMAHA, Neb. -- A man from Oregon was sentenced to 13 years in prison for drug-related charges.
U.S. Attorney Steven Russell said 38-year-old Jonathan Stidham, of Oregon, was sentenced in federal court in Omaha on Friday. He was charged for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute anabolic steroids, methamphetamine, N-Ethylhexedrone, and Alprazolam, and conspiracy to launder money. Stidham will serve 156 months in prison along with a four-year term of supervised release after. There is no parole in the federal system.
According to court documents, Stidham was a leader of a drug trafficking organization (DTO) that made and sold anabolic steroids and other controlled substances to customers throughout the country using a private Facebook group as a storefront and the United States Postal Service to send the drugs to places throughout the country.
Officials said the DTO also marketed and sold pharmaceutical drugs described as Xanax and Adderall. Legitimately prescribed pharmaceutical Adderall is a Schedule II controlled substance that has amphetamine salts in it. A lab testing showed that the pills marketed as “Adderall” by the DTO were counterfeit and had meth, also a Schedule II controlled substance.
Authorities said the “Xanax” distributed by the DTO had N-Ethylhexedrone, a Scheduled I controlled substance. “Xanax” is a brand name for Alprazolam, a Schedule IV controlled substance. Lab testing also confirmed that Alprazolam was present in the substances found by investigators.
According to court documents, customers that bought controlled substances from the DTO were required to use cryptocurrency and cash to pay. The DTO used peer-to-peer digital payment platforms to receive payments for controlled substances from customers and to send funds between themselves.
Officials said the DTO used several other methods to protect the membership’s identity and to give security to the criminal organization from law enforcement and other criminal organizations.
Authorities said Stidham worked in a lab from an apartment he maintained in Oregon, specifically for the purpose of making finished anabolic steroids. Stidham laundered proceeds he made from the sale of steroids and the other controlled substances via a PayPal account through personal business and checking accounts and through a sham corporation incorporated in Oregon in 2017.