GHB Legal News

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Local distributor of “party drug” ingredient held on $5 million bail in biggest GHB bust in U.S. history By James Hibberd

Four handcuffed and gang-chained inmates await their bail hearing in a Phoenix courtroom. The inmates are all bulky, haggard and angry-looking, save one: Michael Brian Hall, a former Honeywell computer engineer and self-proclaimed Mensa member.

Hall is clean-shaven, has neatly combed brown hair and is intently chewing his fingernails. Since he is handcuffed, he must bring both hands to his mouth to chew on a nail, and his unattended hand sort of hangs in the steel bracelet, as if he doesn’t quite know what to do with it.

You would never know by looking at him, but Hall is considered one of the most dangerous criminals in Phoenix. His cash-only bail is set at $5 million, the same bail required of Sammy "the Bull" Gravano after his recent arrest on drug-distribution charges. A signed governor’s warrant to extradite Hall to California has arrived so fast that his attorneys cannot present a motion to reduce his bond in Phoenix.

Hall’s accusers — the Phoenix Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement and Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office — are relieved he will remain in custody.

Hall’s supporters — his friends, family and legal counsel — are outraged.

Hall, 32, was arrested March 15 on charges he sold a chemical called GBL through his Inova Products Web site (www.goodnet.com/~inova/). GBL is, among other things, a weight-belt cleaner, floor stripper, alcohol-clarifying agent, a substance used to extract bacon flavor and precursor to the popular rave mainstay and so-called "date-rape drug" GHB.

GHB is a former health-food store staple often used by partygoers and bodybuilders (who consume GHB for its alleged fat-burning qualities) that was banned by the FDA in 1990. Dozens of overdoses and several deaths have been attributed to GHB since it was banned, although proponents argue the drug is safe if taken in moderation and not mixed with alcohol.

A common method of procuring the drug is to purchase a kit over the Internet consisting of one bottle of GBL and one bottle of hydroxide acid — two chemicals that can be combined with water to form an illegal hypnotic. Such Web sites pop up and disappear quickly, as federal agents are constantly shutting them down; most are located overseas. \

Hall’s nearly two-year-old site reads more cautiously than sites put up by similar distributors. There is no mention of GHB, and GBL is only referred to by its proper name, gamma-butyrolactone. GBL is the sole chemical sold on the site, so Hall did not sell GHB kits per se. There is anotice on the site that GBL is restricted in several states (Arizona is not one of them) and a warning to check local laws before ordering.

Authorities say Hall would purchase GBL in 55-gallon drums from a distributor, then resell the drug for $3,200 (about three times the original price) to hundreds of GHB dealers across the country. Each 55-gallon drum contains about 180,000 doses.

Robert Baker is the deputy district attorney for Santa Clara County. He says authorities first became aware of Hall’s site about two months ago, when a Palo Alto customer of Hall’s became ill from overdosing on GHB.

An undercover narcotics agent then phoned Hall, pretending to be a friend of the customer, and casually inquired about GBL’s legality while noting that the drug had been restricted in California since January 1.

Baker says the call wasn’t legally necessary, but was placed to show a potential jury that Hall was aware that the drug was restricted. Three days later, authorities sent Hall an anonymous check for $3,200 and asked that the substance be delivered to a California address. Hall shipped the chemical and was arrested by Phoenix DEA agents March 15 while en route to the post office with a dozen 2.5-gallon containers of GBL.

"The arrest of Michael Hall, I’m certain, is the largest GHB distribution arrest in the United States," says Baker, adding that Hall was making about $25,000 per week selling the chemical.

Hall’s attorney, Sherry Bell, doesn’t dispute that her client profited hugely from the site. Bell does dispute, however, just about every other allegation concerning Hall’s case.

"It’s totally ridiculous. I think it’s really sad they have this guy in custody," Bell says. "Hall has no criminal history, not even a traffic ticket. Instead of giving this person proper notice [that what he was doing would get him arrested], they set him up."

Hall’s family declined to speak for this story, but a friend of Hall’s says he lived modestly and had planned to quit distributing to California before he was arrested.

"I just think they’re blowing it way out of proportion," says Chris Storms. "He used to go to the dollar movie theater and they’re making him sound like he’s a big-shot drug dealer."

Jim Molesa, a special agent with the Phoenix DEA, notes that the threefold price hike alone indicates that Hall knew he was dealing a black-market item. Hall’s attorney describes her client as simply a smart middleman who discovered a legal niche business.

The most pressing issue for Hall’s family is his bail. District Attorney Baker says agents found a pipe bomb in Hall’s house ("There was no pipe bomb, it was just gunpowder," says Bell), a loaded gun, a book on how to change your identity ("One among many other books," notes Bell) and a fake ID.

"He’s a flight risk and he’s an extreme danger to the community," Baker says. "We don’t even know who he really is — ‘Michael Hall’ is just the name he gave us. He could be Joe Brown from Florida who’s wanted for murder."

"Oh for God’s sake, [Baker] is crazy," counters Bell. "[Hall’s] lived in Arizona forever, his father lives here and his grandparents own a hardware store here. I got about 5 zillion character witnesses for him. It’s scary that they can make these allegations. It isn’t even about drugs — it’s a chemical that can be used to make the date-rape drug, but can also be used for many legal purposes. And because of that they can take all your rights away, put you in jail and set your bond at $5 million cash-only and you’re stuck there. Does that seem fair?"

Hall was extradited to San Jose earlier this week. Bell says Hall was beaten by another inmate in Phoenix who mistook him for a rapist because he sold a date-rape drug.

If convicted, Hall could receive up to 10 years in prison — or more, if other California counties can prove he shipped the chemical to unlicensed distributors.

Internet GBL Seller extradited from Arizona to California
(From San Francisco Chronicle, March 30, 2000)

A man suspected of selling ingredients for making the date rape drug
Gamma-hydroxybutyrate(GHB) over the Internet has been ordered to be
extradited from Arizona to San Jose.

Michael Brian Hall was arrested in Phoenix on March 15 on charges that he sold 55 gallons of Gamma-butyrolactone (GBL), a GHB precursor, over the Internet to an undercover drug agent in San Jose.

Hall was served with a warrant from the Arizona Governor's Office at a court
appearance yesterday ordering his extradition to California to face the
charges. He has 10 days to decide whether or not to contest the warrant,
according to Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Rob Baker.

California Schedules GBL (a.k.a. “Blue Nitro”)

On October 10, 1999, California Governor Gray Davis signed AB 924 into law, thereby making gamma-butyrolactone (GBL; a.k.a. brand name Blue Nitro) a Schedule II substance in California effective January 1, 2000. Once ingested, GBL is metabolized into GHB.

The new law places gamma-butyrolactone within the definition of gamma-hydroxybutyrate, stating:

gamma-hydroxybutyrate, including its immediate precursors, isomers, esters, ethers, salts, and salts of isomers, esters, and ethers, including, but not limited to, . . .gamma-butyrolactone, [is classified as a Schedule II substance]. (Health & Saf. Code, sec. 11055(e)(6).)

Possession of gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) or gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) is punishable by alternate felony/misdemeanor, punishable by 16 months, two or three years in the state prison or up to one year in the county jail. Possession for sale is a felony, punishable by 16 months, two years, or three years in state prison. Transporting GBL or GHB between non-contiguous counties is punishable by three, six, or nine years.

Chicago Area Man Arrested and Charged with
GHB Manufacturing

By Cam Simpson

A 23-year-old Elk Grove Village man is the first person to face federal charges for making massive quantities of a drug that is fast becoming the most popular "high" for suburban youths, according to law enforcement officials.

John Keith Dilg, a Conant High School graduate and former Southern Illinois University student, is accused of running one of the largest GHB production operations authorities say they've ever seen here.

In clandestine labs, including one in his parents' Elk Grove Village home, Dilg oversaw the manufacture of more than 1,100 pounds of the liquid party drug during an eight-month period in 1997 and 1998, authorities alleged in charges filed two weeks ago. The drug is sold to users in teaspoon doses.

…

Michael Cleary, special agent-in-charge of criminal investigations here for the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, said Dilg's case is the first for GHB manufacturing ever filed federally in Chicago. The drug, known in clubs and on the street as Liquid X, Liquid G or G-Riffic, is doled out to users in tiny capfuls costing $US10 to $US25 a pop. It is easily made from two common chemicals: a powerful solvent used to degrease engines and a caustic chemical similar to drain cleaner. "We're finding it in high schools, at events, at party houses—anywhere there's teens," said DuPage County Sheriff John Zaruba. "It's out there, everywhere."

Nationwide, authorities say GHB has caused seizures, comas, respiratory problems and vomiting in scores of youths. A handful of deaths also have been linked to GHB. This summer, its use sent eight youths partying at a Rolling Meadows juice bar to the hospital.

Federal laws against the sale of GHB, once thought of as a sleep-inducing date-rape drug, are weak and complex because GHB is not yet classified as a controlled substance such as cocaine or marijuana.

Dilg is charged with three federal felonies: conspiracy to violate FDA laws, operating an unregistered drug-manufacturing facility and mislabeling drugs. The drug violations often are reserved for the likes of supplement salesmen and get charged as misdemeanors.

Dilg's attorney could not be reached for comment. Sources familiar with the case say he is expected to reach a plea agreement.

The federal charges allege Dilg picked up the drug's main chemical ingredient as often as every two weeks and in batches weighing at least 150 pounds. Others also were allegedly involved but have not been named. Although Dilg could see prison time if convicted, any sentence would be minimal compared with those reserved for traditional drug dealers. For example, dealing 1,100 pounds of crack cocaine would make someone eligible for a mandatory life sentence—more than 300 times over.