Federal Charges Filed Over Kratom Sales After 2 Ole Miss Student Deaths
Federal prosecutors on Friday charged a shop clerk and his son with selling kratom linked to the deaths of two University of Mississippi students in Oxford.[1]
The defendants are Yahya Mohamed Mosleh and his son, Islam Mosleh.[1] A magistrate judge ruled on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, there was sufficient evidence to charge each of them with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.[1] An affidavit says a Sept. 24 controlled buy involved clerk Yahya Mosleh selling kratom-based pills to an informant.[1] It says he warned "people were dying from them" and hid the pills when other customers entered the store.[1]
Investigators found opened packages of a kratom product labeled "Smax" in both students' rooms and linked those products to the Oxford vape, tobacco and beer store where the Moslehs worked.[1] The students were freshman Aidan Hamilton of Englewood, Colorado, and junior Robert Strang of Atlanta.[1]
One kratom-related compound listed in the seized products was added to the Drug Enforcement Administration's banned list in August 2026.[1] Kratom remains legal federally but is banned in 11 states; Oxford has its own ban and Mississippi limits kratom sales to people 21 and older.[1]
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📌 Key Facts
- Two University of Mississippi students died: freshman Aidan Hamilton of Englewood, Colorado, and junior Robert Strang of Atlanta.
- A magistrate judge ruled on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, that there was sufficient evidence to charge Yahya and Islam Mosleh with one count each of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
- An affidavit describes a Sept. 24, 2026 controlled buy in which clerk Yahya Mohamed Mosleh allegedly sold kratom-based pills to an informant, warned that 'people were dying from them,' and hid the pills when other customers entered.
- Investigators found opened packages of a kratom product labeled 'Smax' in both students' rooms and identified a suspected link between those products and the Oxford vape, tobacco and beer store where the Moslehs worked.
- The article reports that one of the DEA-banned kratom-related compounds, prohibited in August 2026, was listed as an ingredient in products seized from the store and from Hamilton's room.
- Kratom remains legal federally but is banned in 11 states; Oxford, Mississippi has implemented its own kratom ban, and Mississippi law restricts kratom sales to people 21 and older.
📰 Source Timeline (2)
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- Article specifies that both students who died were University of Mississippi students: freshman Aidan Hamilton from Englewood, Colorado, and junior Robert Strang from Atlanta.
- Affidavit details a Sept. 24, 2026 controlled buy where clerk Yahya Mohamed Mosleh allegedly sold kratom-based pills to an informant and warned that 'people were dying from them,' then hid the pills when other customers entered.
- The magistrate judge ruled on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, that there was sufficient evidence to charge Yahya and Islam Mosleh with one count each of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
- Investigators found opened packages of a kratom product labeled 'Smax' in both students' rooms and a suspected link between those products and the Oxford vape, tobacco and beer store where the Moslehs worked.
- The article notes that one of the DEA-banned kratom-related compounds, prohibited in August 2026, was listed as an ingredient in products seized from the store and from Hamilton's room.
- The piece adds that kratom remains legal federally but is banned in 11 states; Oxford, Mississippi, has implemented its own kratom ban, and Mississippi law restricts sales to people 21 and older.