Kevin Murphy, Leader Correspondent
Three men, including a descendent of Chief Oshkosh, were sentenced last week in federal court to prison terms for conspiring to purchase synthetic marijuana at a Milwaukee-area retail store and selling it on the Menominee Indian Reservation between 2013 and 2016.
Woody Nahquaddy, 31, considered the organizer of the conspiracy, was sentenced Friday to 6 1/2 years in prison. Mitchell Oshkosh, 30, and Austin Kaquatosh, 23, were each previously sentenced to two years in prison.
The conspiracy coincided with a public health crisis that resulted in numerous emergency calls to assist people who had adverse reactions to the synthetic drugs like those the defendants distributed, according to a statement released Monday by the U.S. Attorney’s office.
According to court documents:
The men obtained up to 2 pounds of the synthetic pot, or synthetic cannabinoids, per week during the trips to Milwaukee. They purchased a total of about 176 pounds.
Nahquaddy, Kaquatosh and others repacked the synthetic pot in 50-gram quantities, which Nahquaddy sold to his distributors for $250. Oshkosh sold the synthetic pot in the Neopit area, and Kaquatosh and unnamed others had other sales territories on the MIR.
Oshkosh said he collected several hundred dollars each from Kaquatosh and another person responsible for the Keshena area, and said he collected from each of them every two to three days. The substance is smoked like marijuana and gives an effect as strong or stronger than THC.
After the synthetic pot was sold, Oshkosh gave the proceeds to Nahquaddy to buy more synthetic marijuana in Milwaukee. Oshkosh was not in the conspiracy to make money but to supply his own drug habit, according to the court documents.
According to a confidential informant, Oshkosh gave Nahquaddy a firearm instead of cash for synthetic marijuana. Use of a firearm in connection with a drug crime could have added another 15 years to Oshkosh’s prison sentence. However, the government could not prove that Oshkosh possessed the .410 Rossi shotgun.
When Menominee Tribal Police arrested the men, they seized nearly 1 1/2 pounds of synthetic cannabinoids.
According to his attorney, Oshkosh is a direct descendant of Chief Oshkosh, a 19th century leader of the Menominee.
Mitchell Oshkosh was raised by an alcoholic mother, who died of cirrhosis of the liver, and a father who was largely absent until Mitchell reached the latter part of high school, according to the court documents.
While in high school, Oshkosh enjoyed playing basketball, but an ankle injury limited his ability to play. Without basketball, Oshkosh became angry. He tried to control the anger through marijuana and became a daily user. He switched to synthetic marijuana when marijuana became harder to obtain on the reservation. Oshkosh meet Nahquaddy through drug use and joined the conspiracy.
Synthetic cannabinoids have various chemical compositions and different effects on users. As a result, they can still be purchased legally in some places as they were in Milwaukee, according to documents attorneys for the defendants filed with the court.
The defendants acknowledged that they belatedly realized the dangerous effects synthetic cannabinoids can have on users. A defense attorney quoting from a confidential sentencing document filed with the court noted that 182 EMS calls on the MIR during the time of the conspiracy could be related to synthetic marijuana.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office said it is not possible to determine the percentage of EMS calls that were directly attributable to the conspiracy.
“However, given these (defendants) were responsible for the vast majority of the synthetic drugs brought to the reservation until at least January 2016, it is safe to say their drug trafficking organization endangered the health of dozens of people whose addictions were preyed upon by the dealers’ desire to make money,” spokesman Dean Puschnig wrote Monday in an email to a reporter.
Users reported having severe adverse reactions to the drugs, including seizures, extremely high blood pressure, high body temperature, catatonia and disorientation.
In sentencing the three defendants, U.S. District Judge William Griesbach noted the sale of the substance caused great harm to the Menominee Indian community, and he indicated his intent to deter the defendants and others from committing the offense.
In a letter to the court, Nahquaddy apologized for his conduct, vowed never to make such poor decisions again, and asked for leniency for the sake of his children and to allow him to obtain a degree in business management.