Independence businessman sold synthetic marijuana, gets very real prison sentence

The owner of two Independence businesses was sentenced Tuesday for food stamp fraud and selling K2, also known as synthetic marijuana.

Haq Nawaz Choudhry pleaded guilty in February in U.S. District Court in Kansas City to charges of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and controlled substance analogue and conspiracy to commit money-laundering.

On Tuesday, a judge sentenced him to three years and six months in prison.

Choudhry, 54, owned the Short Stop convenience store and Kerns Liquor, located next door to each other in the 9000 block of East U.S. 40 in Independence.

He and his son, Haris Nawaz, were indicted by a federal grand jury in 2016 on charges of selling K2 and accepting food stamps as payment for the drugs.

Choudhry, in his guilty plea, admitted that he conspired to defraud the U.S. Department of Agriculture by accepting EBT cards in exchange for synthetic marijuana. The cards are used by people who qualify for food stamp benefits.