SALT LAKE CITY — Two Utah agents with the Department of Homeland Security have been sentenced in connection with their scheme to use a confidential informant to illegally sell bath salts, earning up to $300,000 in profits.
David Cole pleaded guilty to conspiracy to convert property of another by an officer or employee of the United States, and remove property in the United States. Nicholas Kindle faced the same charge in addition to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Kindle pleaded guilty to both charges.
According to court documents, beginning in 2021, Cole and Kindle began acquiring bath salts for the purpose of illegally selling them in Utah. The pair used various ruses, including stealing drugs from evidence or telling other law enforcement personnel that they needed the drugs for investigative work.
Investigators say that from 2022 to the beginning of 2024, the pair sold the bath salts to a Homeland Security Investigations informant and permitted the informant to resell the bath salts and keep the profit.
In March or April of 2024, Cole and Kindle recruited a new informant to serve as a buyer for the bath salts. The pair sold 25 grams of bath salts at least once a week to the informant for $5,000.
Cole was sentenced to 7 years and 3 months in a Phoenix prison, followed by 36 months of supervised release. He will also have to submit his DNA for collection and undergo substance abuse treatment while incarcerated.
Kindle was sentenced to 5 years in a South Dakota prison, and ordered to participate in a substance abuse program with the option to undergo vocational HVAC training.
Following his prison sentence, Kindle will undergo 24 months of supervised release and submit his DNA for collection.
Both Cole and Kindle agreed to a money judgment of $97,500 and ordered to forfeit over $100,000 in money they had collected.
