Brian Hoskins is in custody after a lengthy investigation found him at the center of a scheme that landed more than 35,000 prescription pills in his possession this past summer. On Monday, March 2, the Platte County Prosecutor’s Office charged the 29-year-old Platte County resident with four felony counts related to possession and distribution of the controlled substances. He's now being held at the Platte County Detention Center on a $100,000 cash-only bond with the special requirement of surrendering his passport.
According to a probable cause statement, Hoskins had two different United States Post Office boxes in the area with multiple packages containing more than 15,000 pills waiting for him in addition to more than 19,000 pills found in the bedroom of his parent’s apartment, located yards away from Congress Middle School and Park Hill High School. He would then break down the large quantities and mail them throughout the United States, according to a statement given to the Kansas City (Mo.) Police Department.
The investigation started June 23, 2014 with Border Patrol seizing a package addressed to Hoskins at JFK Airport and the discovery of 1,800 doses of Lorazepam inside.
The post office box listed was in Hoskins’ name and located on Main Street in Kansas City, Mo., and a call to that post office revealed that there were six parcels waiting for him to pick up. On July 7, 2014, a Kansas City Drug Enforcement Unit was conducting surveillance when Hoskins came and picked up the six packages and placed them in a camouflaged backpack he was carrying.
Officers approached Hoskins and observed him becoming visibly nervous. When told about the seized parcel, he offered to talk with authorities in a conference room.
Hoskins gave consent to search the packages inside his backpack, and authorities found 8,380 various Schedule IV pills/tablets inside. He was placed under investigative arrest and taken to the Kansas City Police Detention Unit. While there, he told authorities that he spent six years in Bangkok, Thailand where he began using steroids, and during that time, he met a man identified as Gary Dahmer, AKA Ulysses Jackson, who offered him connections to sell prescription drugs.
After returning to the United States around the summer of 2013, Hoskins reached out to Dahmer, who set him up with two suppliers — one from India and one from Thailand.
The pills were sent to both Hoskins’ downtown post office box and another he used located on NW Barry Road in Platte County. On July 7, 2014, authorities also searched his parent’s apartment at 8012 NW Milrey Drive in Kansas City — located just south of Barry Road and west of NW Prairie View Road. There were 19,169 tablets in his bedroom in addition to printed mailing labels, four opened packages sent from India and other shipping materials.
On July 23, 2014, seven international parcels from India shipped to Hoskins at the post office off of Barry Road. He again granted consent to search, and 7,300 tablets were recovered.
All of the substances seized were tested by a forensic chemist and found to be various Schedule IV controlled substances.
Hoskins faces one felony count each for possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and acting as a wholesale drug distributor or pharmacy without a license and two counts for a possession of a controlled substance. The four felonies carry a potential punishment of up to 36 years in prison.