ELKHART, Ind.--- A gas clerk was convicted Monday on several counts of dealing synthetic drugs and money laundering.
Gurpreet Singh was found guilty on three counts of Dealing in a Synthetic Drug or Synthetic Drug Lookalike Substance, a Class D felony, and three counts of Money Laundering, a Class D felony.
According to police, Singh, a clerk at a Marathon Gas Station at 1850 Bristol St. in Elkhart, received money from a cooperating source working with the Elkhart Police Dept.
In return, Singh distributed to the cooperating source a synthetic drug look-alike substance in packets labeled “iBlown” and “7H.”
The packets contained a green leafy substance that resembled marijuana or synthetic drugs.
After receiving the money from the sale of the drugs, the money was placed into the store’s cash register, and Singh would ring the transaction up as a sale of “groceries.”
At trial, Singh, and an expert witness called by the defense, claimed that his English language and cognitive skills were so limited that he did not realize that the packets that he was distributing were illegal.
The State entered into evidence audio and video recordings of the underlying transactions where Singh is heard communicating effectively with the buyer.
Prosecutors also demonstrated that Singh could hold a ten minute conversation with police who were investigating the incident.
The judge noted that on at least six occasions during the trial the defendant provided relevant answers to questions in English before the translator completed their interpretation.
Sentencing in this case is currently scheduled for June 3, 2015 at 1:30 p.m. in Superior Court 6.