PHOENIX (AP) - A Phoenix man has been sentenced to 4 ½ years in federal prison in a designer drug case.
Federal prosecutors said Monday that 27-year-old Nicholas Pascal Zizzo also was ordered to forfeit about $1.3 million and a Phoenix business.
They say Zizzo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute controlled substance analogues.
Zizzo owned Consortium Distribution from early 2011 through July 2012.
Prosecutors say the business manufactured designer or synthetic drugs which had powerful cocaine and methamphetamine-like effects.
The drugs were intentionally mislabeled as innocuous household products in order to circumvent federal consumer and drug laws.
Authorities say the designer drugs were distributed and sold to smoke shops, independent gasoline stations and convenient stores across the country.
Prosecutors say Zizzo was one of nine defendants in the case.
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