West Virginia store manager who had shop raided after selling THC to 13-year-olds cuts deal and pleads guilty

A West Virginia convenience store manager has cut a deal and pled guilty after his shop was raided for selling THC to teens.

According to our media partner the Herald-Star, Hamdan Alhawshabi pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. Hamden also promised to not sell CBD and THC products and to check IDs on customers buying alcohol, tobacco, and lottery tickets.

Hamdan Alhawshabi was sentenced to a $100 fine, court costs, a suspended six-month jail sentence, and put on unsupervised probation for one year.

The owner of Phillies Quick Stop in Newell, WV, Abdulrashid Alhawshabi was also arrested and charged in March of this year. Abdulrashid had his case continued with no scheduled court date listed, at this time. Abulrashid, from Weirton, WV is charged with 1 count of possession of a controlled substance and 1 count of delivery of a controlled substance.

In March, the Hancock County Sheriff's Office said they have been looking into the sale of products with THC, many of the sales being to teens as young as 13 years old, with these products ending up in local schools.

Sheriff Gittings says while THC and CBD are legal to sell, establishments must have a license through the Department of Agriculture, which Phillies Quick Stop was not licensed to sell these products according to the Sheriff.

Hancock officials say the WV Code limits the sale of products with THC, the maximum amount allowed is 0.3%. All the sales obtained in this investigation were much higher, with some edible products we tested at 46.8%, which is 156 times the amount allowed by state code.