Jayson Mickle, 31, of Hampton was sentenced last week to 210 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possessing with intent to distribute controlled substances and controlled substance analogues.

The sentence was announced in a release from U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia. Mickle pleaded guilty in June of last year. 

According to court documents, from 2008 to 2014, Mickle sold smokable synthetic cannabinoids, commonly known as “spice,” in the Hampton Roads area and eventually nationwide. 

Mickle began sales through retail stores by the name of Hampton Pipe and Tobacco, located in Hampton, Newport News, Gloucester and Norfolk. In 2010, Mickle also began a wholesale operation online called Blazin Herbs. In 2013, the wholesale outfit’s name was changed to 7 City Gifts.

At times, Mickle was supplied by Zencense, which was a large-scale spice producer and wholesaler based in Florida. Between January 2012 and April 2013, Mickle’s spice distribution operation purchased in excess of 1,000 kilograms of spice for resale from Zencense and its successor company, Zenbio, based in California. 

Mickle’s operations also supplied the Red Barn, a convenience store in Newport News, with spice in late 2013 into early 2014. 

Mickle’s retail operation, Hampton Pipe and Tobacco, grossed over $9.6 million in spice sales. Mickle, who used a significant portion of his drug proceeds to purchase over two dozen real properties, was also ordered to forfeit those properties.