Missouri Man Sentenced to 18-months for Distribution of Unprocessed Poppyseeds Used to Manufacture Controlled Substance

Richard G. Frohling, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on October 2, 2025, Chief United States District Judge Pamela Pepper sentenced Antony Graziano to 18-months imprisonment for his role in selling unprocessed poppyseeds through his internet-based business, Fireseed Bakery.

Graziano was sentenced after pleading guilty to an information charging him with conspiracy to distribute a material or chemical that may be used to manufacture a controlled substance, and a substantive count of distributing such a material or chemical in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846 and 843(a)(7).

According to court records, starting in September 2020, and for a period of approximately two years, Graziano marketed and sold unprocessed (or "unwashed") poppyseeds over the internet with the intent that his customers soak the product in liquids intended to extract opium alkaloids such as morphine, codeine, and thebaine from the seeds. As part of his business, Graziano compared the strength of the "poppyseed tea" that resulted from soaking his product with opiates such as Oxycodone, and he acknowledged that consuming the product carried a significant risk of overdose and death.

At his sentencing hearing, Judge Pepper focused on the serious nature of the offense and the tremendous risk and harm created by Graziano's conduct.

Graziano will serve his 18-month sentence consecutive to a 50-month sentence imposed by the Eastern District of Missouri in a separate case. Graziano was also sentenced to 1-year of supervised release to follow his sentence and ordered to forfeit his home in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, as well as approximately $20,000 in cash seized from his bank accounts.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

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For further information contact:

Public Affairs Officer Steve Caballero

(414) 297-1700

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