Mother, son sentenced in Internet drug case

ST. LOUIS -- A St. Louis-area mother and son were sentenced to prison Friday for conspiring to distribute a chemical relative of the "date rape" drug GHB via the Internet, U.S. Attorney Ray Gruender said. Gruender said the case was the first in Missouri's eastern district involving drug distribution over the Internet. Cassandra Harvey, 54, of Festus, was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Her son, Joshua Harvey, 24, of Herculaneum, was sentenced to more than eight years in prison. Both pleaded guilty in October. GHB is a potentially deadly drug that causes a euphoric state and can have an amnesiac effect.

Investigators seized more than 2,000 gallons of butanediol and $300,000 from the Harveys, Gruender said.