Father and Son Charged Over Illegal Kratom as Ole Miss Deaths Are Investigated
Federal authorities charged store clerk Yahya Mohamed Mosleh, 51, and his son Islam Yahya Mosleh, 18, with selling an illegal kratom product while investigators examined the deaths of two University of Mississippi students, prosecutors announced on Friday. The Guardian
Each man faces one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, a drug restricted under federal law. The charge was brought through a criminal complaint, a formal accusation used to make an arrest early in a case. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Mississippi said the pair were arrested on that complaint in suspected connection to the death of one of the two students. U.S. Attorney's Office
The students were identified as Aidan Hamilton, a freshman from Englewood, Colorado, and Robert Strang, a junior from Atlanta. They were found in different locations, one on campus and one off campus. Hamilton died in his on-campus dorm room on 21 September. Federal prosecutors said both deaths appear consistent with drug overdoses. Court documents said Hamilton may have died from pulmonary edema, fluid in the lungs, a finding consistent with an overdose.
Bank records show Hamilton made multiple purchases in September from a vape, tobacco and beer store in Oxford, Mississippi. On 24 September, an informant working with investigators bought kratom-based pills from Yahya Mohamed Mosleh at that Oxford store. Kratom is a plant-based substance often sold as pills or powder. Mosleh warned the informant to be careful with the pills because people were dying from them.
Investigators found opened packages of kratom labeled Smax, with some pills missing, in Hamilton's room. A package of Smax was also found in Strang's room, which an affidavit, a sworn written statement, says he bought from a different store. A 25 September affidavit by DEA Special Agent Michael Dassance said one of the banned compounds was listed as an ingredient in products seized from the Oxford store and from Hamilton's room.
The DEA, the federal drug enforcement agency, banned three kratom-related compounds in August. A federal filing said a toxicology report, a laboratory test of blood and tissue, found mitragynine, MGM-15 and MGPI in Hamilton and Strang. It is still unclear whether any kratom substance contributed to either death, and the cause remains unresolved. Mississippi allows regulated kratom sales but requires buyers to be 21 or older. Gov. Tate Reeves said on 23 September that two state agencies were working to speed up toxicology reports for the students.
The defendants appeared on Thursday before a magistrate judge, who found sufficient evidence to keep the charges in place. The Lafayette County metro narcotics unit said on Thursday the investigation was still active and additional charges were possible. Authorities had said on 24 September they had no evidence the two deaths were connected. Associated Press
The broader context here is an early test of the August federal ban. Washington now controls three kratom-related compounds, while Mississippi still permits regulated kratom with an age limit. Prosecutors are trying to separate a lawful product from a specific formula that is newly controlled or altered, so label claims and lab results sit at the center of the complaint. For Oxford and beyond, toxicology and sourcing will shape what happens next. The affidavit points to a direct store link for Hamilton but a different store for Strang, and prosecutors have not tied kratom to either death. If later tests confirm controlled compounds in the seized samples, more distribution or conspiracy counts could follow. If not, the case may rest more narrowly on the controlled buy and the seized inventory.
