Ole Miss students died near drug listing newly illegal ingredient, ex-prosecutor says selling it is 'unlawful'
OXFORD, Miss. – Two Ole Miss students were found dead near tablets whose labels list an ingredient the federal government recently made illegal, and the product is nowhere to be found on the brand's website.
According to court documents, Ole Miss students Aidan Hamilton, 18, and Robert Strang, 20, were discovered dead on Sept. 21, each found near similar packages of kratom or synthetic kratom. Officials noted that Hamilton "could have died due to a Pulmonary Edema," a finding consistent with a drug overdose. When first responders reached Strang's house near campus, he was found "cold to the touch."
Packaging found near both students bears the name Modus, according to court documents. The affidavit describes the tablets as Smax Pseudo-DHM, and lists pseudoindoxyl and MGM-15(DHM) among the ingredients on the pack found near Hamilton.
The Drug Enforcement Administration temporarily placed mitragynine pseudoindoxyl in Schedule I on Aug. 26, which bars its sale. A Mississippi law enforcement agent investigating the Ole Miss students' deaths said he believes "pseudoindoxyl" refers to that compound, and lab results confirming the tablets' contents are pending, court documents say.
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Toxicology results, which are still pending, could help determine how Hamilton and Strang died, according to the affidavit.
Modus Brand, which has offices in Florida and California, doesn't list the Smax Pseudo Tablets on its website, but says the product is a "next-generation approach to botanical supplements, offering a carefully formulated, high-quality product in a convenient chewable format."
While it's unclear if the Smax Pseudo Tablets were once on the Modus website, they're not listed at the moment.
In September, Hamilton made multiple purchases at Puffs Vape, Tobacco and Beer Store in Oxford. Two employees at that store, Yahya Mohamed Mosleh, 51, and Islam Mohamed, 18, were arrested and face a charge of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, according to court documents. They were handed bonds of $100,000 each. Officials have said they do not believe there is any connection between the arrests and Hamilton's death.
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Court documents do not establish that the kratom found near Hamilton at the time of his death originated from that store. Among his purchases, at least one transaction took place the day before Hamilton was discovered dead.
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Officials said the synthetic kratom-derived product Strang had bought was purchased at a gas station about 30 minutes away from Oxford, Mississippi.
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The owner of that gas station told Fox News Digital that the Smax tablets found near Strang did not come from his store. He said he does not put price stickers on his packages, unlike the one on the pack by Strang's nightstand. He didn't dispute that his store sold Smax Pseudo Tablets.
He said that federal agents seized all of his kratom inventory on Friday.
Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Fox News Digital it's illegal for anyone to sell products containing MGM-15 after the DEA rescheduled it, but prosecuting it is trickier.
"It would be unlawful for anyone, whether it's a drug dealer or a gas station convenience store owner, to sell MGM-15 after it was categorized as Schedule I," Rahmani said. "Now, to be prosecuted, the Department of Justice would have to prove intent."
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Kratom is a plant, but MGM-15 and related chemicals are synthetic versions of it, and the two are "certainly not an apples-to-apples comparison," he said.
Modus, the company whose name appears on the packaging, could face civil and even criminal liability if its product is found to contain a Schedule I substance, Rahmani said.
"There's no doubt that Modus and any company that distributed this drug can face civil, even criminal, liability. If you put out a dangerous product, doesn't matter if it's a pharmaceutical, street drug, or really, frankly, anything else. It could be a vehicle, it could be social media. Products liability law does hold the company responsible," Rahmani said.
"Now, in the case of something that's outright illegal in Schedule I, there's no question that criminal liability for the distributors can attach as well, and it can be the manufacturer, it can be the street level dealer, the wholesaler, anyone in the supply chain that distributes a Schedule I drug can absolutely be held responsible."
Multiple calls and emails to Modus by Fox News Digital went unanswered.
Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI, DEA, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Lafayette County Metro Narcotics, Yahya Mohamed Mosleh and Islam Mohamed for comment.