A Richmond-area man who received more than 100 packages holding a total of more than 600 pounds of marijuana from San Francisco was sentenced to 33 months in prison.
Jonathan Hall, 24, pleaded guilty earlier this year to a charge of conspiracy to distribute marijuana. He was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson, who noted that Hall used multiple post office boxes, created shell companies and kept cash deposits under $10,000 to avoid bank reporting.
“Mr. Hall was the Virginia side of a transcontinental marijuana trafficking organization,” Hudson said. “This was not the average case of some youngster on the street selling marijuana in the neighborhood.”
Last month Hudson sentenced Nathan Driver, 26, of San Francisco — who shipped the marijuana to Hall — to three years in prison. The marijuana was shipped in 136 parcels from California to Virginia from March 31, 2016, to September 2018.
Hall admitted to depositing nearly $400,000 in proceeds from the sale of marijuana into Driver’s bank account throughout the conspiracy. He also mailed 33 parcels of cash to Driver’s residence.
Federal sentencing guidelines called for Hall to receive 30 to 37 months. Olivia Norman, an assistant U.S. attorney, asked Hudson to impose a prison term within the guideline range.
Hall’s lawyer, Laura Koenig, asked for a two-year term, citing Hall’s youth and lack of any prior arrests.
In a sentencing memorandum, she reported that Hall began using marijuana at a young age, became dependent on it and started selling it to support his own addiction. She noted that Hall has forfeited $136,680 in cash, liquidated $33,421 from an investment account and turned over his car to help satisfy a $235,745 forfeiture order he signed.
Given a chance to speak before he was sentenced, Hall said, “I made the mistake of a lifetime.”
“I am truly sorry and filled with remorse. … I believe I have learned my lesson,” he told Hudson.
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