Detroit – The Holy Moly Donut Shop has attracted the cops, but for all the wrong reasons.

The famous store, where people can personalize the donuts with candy toppings, was a front for a multi-state marijuana network, which laundered the drug money through the donut shop, a fake marijuana dispensary and a company that fills out ATMs to federal prosecutors.

The unusual drug investigation was revealed on Friday when Holy Moly's owner, Victor Attisha, and two other people were indicted in federal court for drug conspiracy, money laundering and other criminal charges. 39; accusation.

Court records and interviews report more than $ 700,000 seized by the US Drug Enforcement Administration and reveal a colorful criminal investigation that illustrates the potential for criminality when the fledgling order of marijuana for medical purposes on marijuana takes effect with the entry of 75 authorized jar stores across the city.

The indictment was filed a month before Michigan voters decide whether to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes.

"I would say that of all the gin joints in which to enter, if they went into this one, there had to be a reason," said attorney Michael Komorn, president of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association . "More information needs to be released, but people need to be worried because if you do not follow the rules, that's the kind of thing that can happen."

Attisha attorney and DEA spokeswoman declined to comment on Friday.

Attisha, 40, of Sterling Heights, has been indicted alongside her business partners, 45-year-old Junior Asmar of Sterling Heights and 38-year-old James Shammas of Shelby Township.

The drug conspiracy began in 2016 when the three men developed a ploy to manufacture and distribute hundreds of pounds of marijuana under the guise of running a marijuana dispensary that was supposed to comply with the drug laws of the country. State, said prosecutors.

This dummy clinic was Unified Collective, located next to the Holy Moly Donut shop on Eight Mile, prosecutors said.

The trio played a variety of roles in the manufacture, possession and distribution of marijuana and money laundering drugs, according to the indictment.

Marijuana was grown and grown in commercial and residential locations in the Greater Detroit area and sold throughout the region.

The men also bought hundreds of pounds worth of marijuana worth over a million dollars from California vendors and other regions for sale in the Greater Detroit area, according to the government.

The drug ring was between Farmington Hills, Roseville, Shelby Township and Asmar's room, donut shop and Unified Collective, prosecutors said.

The donut distribution chain, open 24 hours a day, has several locations in Detroit: Eight Mile East of Woodward and Seven Mile.

Government documents obtained by The News indicate that investigators seized more than $ 39,000 from Holy Moly and Unified Collective on February 14. The rest of the money was seized from a Bloomfield Hills home, a Hazel Park business and banks.

The donut shop and dispensary were used to conceal the drug's product and hide the source of the income, prosecutors said.

It was the same for ATMs, according to the indictment.

Asmar, an A & S ATM employee on the John R. Road Block 24000 in Hazel Park, has periodically filled the money machines, including illegal marijuana products, prosecutors said. Attisha is the resident agent of the company.

From April 2016 to September 2017, more than 2.3 million dollars were deposited in the bank account of the ATM company. An almost equal amount has been withdrawn, prosecutors said

The bank account was controlled by Asmar and Attisha, according to the government. Shammas, meanwhile, listed his profession as "ATM Consulting".

Asmar and Shammas could not be reached for comment on Friday.

Men have used other people to conceal the true identity of some real estate and bank accounts, prosecutors said.

Real estate included commercial marijuana operations on Research Drive in Farmington Hills and Oak Park. And a $ 197,140 safe was registered under the name of a relative of Shammas.

Attisha, the donut shopkeeper, has a criminal record.

In November 2000, police officers on the outskirts of San Diego, California, raided the home of an alleged drug dealer and seized cocaine and a loaded pistol. Investigators learned that the gun was one of 54 firearms stolen when robbing a weapons store.

The alleged drug dealer cooperated with the federal investigators and took them to the person who sold him the stolen gun.

According to the Federal Court, Attisha allegedly sold a weapon at his workplace, a San Diego fish market. Officers seized an illegal rifle, ammunition and "about half a pound of high quality marijuana".

Attisha was charged with marijuana and weapons in March 2001, convicted of a crime committed with a firearm and sentenced to 27 months in a federal training camp.

In 2005, parents testified for Attisha's rehabilitation in the hope that he would get early release from court supervision.

"Victor Attisha paid his debt to society and became a better man for that. He has made a fresh start and will not disappoint you, "wrote sister Vivian Attisha in a letter to the court.

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