LEWISBURG — State police have filed new charges against the owner of a downtown Lewisburg smoke shop, adding counts of money laundering on top of charges alleging the store had sold illegal synthetic drugs.
Kurt D. Reichenbach II, 42, of Muncy, had originally been charged with three drug counts, but police withdrew those counts and replaced them by adding 24 other counts on top of the original three, including charges alleging Reichenbach had been trying to structure bank deposits to try to shield how much he was putting into the bank.
His wife, Kristine Reichenbach, also faces drug charges stemming from allegations that she had sold illegal drugs at the store.
Court documents indicate that in April, police interviewed a local bank manager who said the bank had closed Reichenbach’s accounts because they believed he was conducting suspicious transactions.
State police said that deposits greater than $10,000 require additional reporting and an audit of his transactions showed that Reichenbach deposited $18,805 in three transactions in August. In a five-day period in December, Reichenbach withdrew $12,500 in five separate $2,500 withdrawals, including three on one day.
State police investigators said “drug dealers often times will attempt to avoid the federal reporting guidelines by withdrawing amounts of money that are less than the $10,000 through several transactions during one day.
The Reichenbachs were originally arrested on May 2 after a confidential informant allegedly visited the Lewisburg shop and bought synthetic marijuana. During that transaction, Reichenbach allegedly told the informant that the product would get you high “in two puffs,” and added that he had purchased more than $10,000 worth of another brand of synthetic marijuana but he was going to stop ordering it because it was not as potent as the other brands.
The day after the original charges, police obtained a search warrant to search Reichenbach’s Toyota Prius and inside they allegedly found a backpack with four pill bottles containing 19 different kinds of prescription pills and no evidence that Reichebach has prescriptions for any of them.
Police also allegedly found 93 packages of synthetic marijuana in the Prius in addition to 23 packages found in the store.
