Hiding Drugs in Flip Flops Gets Dealer 15 Years

A U.S. District judge Monday sentenced a 27-year-old Baltimore man to more than 15 years in prison for mailing cocaine in the soles of flip flop slippers and selling it in a distribution scheme involving multiple people, an ongoing flow of cash and drugs, and an attempt to set up a fake business designed to hide illegal profits.

Lorenzo Solomon was apprehended in a sting in which cocaine from St. Vincent island in the Caribbean was intercepted by border police and then arranged for delivery to Solomon in Takoma Park by drug enforcement agents, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland.

Solomon was sentenced to 188 months in prison for his role in leading the drug conspiracy and intimidating witnesses, officials said Monday.

Another man, Ronnie George, 27, of Owings Mills, pleaded guilty to participating in the drug conspiracy and was sentenced to a year and a day in prison.

Solomon was the organizer of a conspiracy involving George and others to import cocaine from St. Vincent and distribute it in Maryland between April and December 2010, according to evidence presented in Solomon's four-day trial.

Solomon arranged with co-conspirators in St. Vincent to send him packages containing up to a kilogram of cocaine at a time hidden in the soles of flip flop style slippers, both to his own address and to the address of others, according to a press release. 

To pay for the drugs, witnesses testified that Solomon arranged to have multiple friends and family members send large amounts of cash via Western Union and Moneygram, most frequently in $2,000 increments, which Solomon provided them. 

According to court documents, more than 17 individuals sent a total of $117,270 from the United States to St. Vincent between April and November 2010. In February, 2011, Solomon filed paperwork with the St. Vincent government to form a business, apparently in an effort to create a cover story as to why he had sent large amounts of money to St. Vincent, according to the press release. 

Solomon returned to the United States in March 2011.  On April 6, 2011, George and Solomon were indicted on drug conspiracy charges. George was arrested and pleaded guilty, but Solomon was not located until after George’s sentencing in March 2012, according to the release.