Four handcuffed and gang-chained inmates await their bail hearing in a Phoenix courtroom. The inmates are all bulky, haggard and angry-looking, save one: Michael Brian Hall, a former Honeywell computer engineer and self-proclaimed Mensa member.
Michael Hall
Empty GBL drums sit on Hall's patio.
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Hall is clean-shaven, has neatly combed brown hair and is intently chewing his fingernails. Since he is handcuffed, he must bring both hands to his mouth to chew on a nail, and his unattended hand sort of hangs in the steel bracelet, as if he doesn't quite know what to do with it.
You would never know by looking at him, but Hall is considered one of the most dangerous criminals in Phoenix. His cash-only bail is set at $5 million, the same bail required of Sammy "the Bull" Gravano after his recent arrest on drug-distribution charges. A signed governor's warrant to extradite Hall to California has arrived so fast that his attorneys cannot present a motion to reduce his bond in Phoenix.
Hall's accusers -- the Phoenix Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement and Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office -- are relieved he will remain in custody.
Hall's supporters -- his friends, family and legal counsel -- are outraged.
Hall, 32, was arrested March 15 on charges he sold a chemical called GBL through his Inova Products Web site (www.goodnet.com/~inova/). GBL is, among other things, a weight-belt cleaner, floor stripper, alcohol-clarifying agent, a substance used to extract bacon flavor and precursor to the popular rave mainstay and so-called "date-rape drug" GHB.
GHB is a former health-food store staple often used by partygoers and bodybuilders (who consume GHB for its alleged fat-burning qualities) that was banned by the FDA in 1990. Dozens of overdoses and several deaths have been attributed to GHB since it was banned, although proponents argue the drug is safe if taken in moderation and not mixed with alcohol.
A common method of procuring the drug is to purchase a kit over the Internet consisting of one bottle of GBL and one bottle of hydroxide acid -- two chemicals that can be combined with water to form an illegal hypnotic. Such Web sites pop up and disappear quickly, as federal agents are constantly shutting them down; most are located overseas.
Hall's nearly two-year-old site reads more cautiously than sites put up by similar distributors. There is no mention of GHB, and GBL is only referred to by its proper name, gamma-butyrolactone. GBL is the sole chemical sold on the site, so Hall did not sell GHB kits per se. There is a notice on the site that GBL is restricted in several states (Arizona is not one of them) and a warning to check local laws before ordering.
Authorities say Hall would purchase GBL in 55-gallon drums from a distributor, then resell the drug for $3,200 (about three times the original price) to hundreds of GHB dealers across the country. Each 55-gallon drum contains about 180,000 doses.
Robert Baker is the deputy district attorney for Santa Clara County. He says authorities first became aware of Hall's site about two months ago, when a Palo Alto customer of Hall's became ill from overdosing on GHB.
An undercover narcotics agent then phoned Hall, pretending to be a friend of the customer, and casually inquired about GBL's legality while noting that the drug had been restricted in California since January 1.
Baker says the call wasn't legally necessary, but was placed to show a potential jury that Hall was aware that the drug was restricted. Three days later, authorities sent Hall an anonymous check for $3,200 and asked that the substance be delivered to a California address. Hall shipped the chemical and was arrested by Phoenix DEA agents March 15 while en route to the post office with a dozen 2.5-gallon containers of GBL.
"The arrest of Michael Hall, I'm certain, is the largest GHB distribution arrest in the United States," says Baker, adding that Hall was making about $25,000 per week selling the chemical.
Hall's attorney, Sherry Bell, doesn't dispute that her client profited hugely from the site. Bell does dispute, however, just about every other allegation concerning Hall's case.
"It's totally ridiculous. I think it's really sad they have this guy in custody," Bell says. "Hall has no criminal history, not even a traffic ticket. Instead of giving this person proper notice [that what he was doing would get him arrested], they set him up."
Hall's family declined to speak for this story, but a friend of Hall's says he lived modestly and had planned to quit distributing to California before he was arrested.
"I just think they're blowing it way out of proportion," says Chris Storms. "He used to go to the dollar movie theater and they're making him sound like he's a big-shot drug dealer."
Jim Molesa, a special agent with the Phoenix DEA, notes that the threefold price hike alone indicates that Hall knew he was dealing a black-market item. Hall's attorney describes her client as simply a smart middleman who discovered a legal niche business.
The most pressing issue for Hall's family is his bail. District Attorney Baker says agents found a pipe bomb in Hall's house ("There was no pipe bomb, it was just gunpowder," says Bell), a loaded gun, a book on how to change your identity ("One among many other books," notes Bell) and a fake ID.
