ST. LOUIS — A businessman-turned-informant in a public corruption case that ensnared three city and one county official says his four-year prison sentence for selling contraband cigarettes is improper and wants to be free on bond while he appeals.
Mohammed Almuttan, 40, was indicted on six charges in 2017, alongside 34 others, in a synthetic marijuana trafficking sting. All but one of those charges was dismissed in April after he pleaded guilty to selling contraband cigarettes.
Almuttan operated several businesses in north city and county, including gas stations, convenience stores and a laundromat.
His name surfaced again a few months later when the Post-Dispatch identified him as the “John Doe†business owner who recorded compromising conversations with former Aldermanic President Lewis Reed, Alderman Jeffrey Boyd and Alderman John Collins-Muhammad, as well as the “John Smith†who caught former county jail official Tony Weaver trying to use his influence for a COVID-relief kickback scheme.
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U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White sentenced Almuttan in October to four years in prison, calling him the “ringleader, if not the mastermind,†of an operation to sell synthetic drugs at his convenience stores and gas stations. White accused him of manufacturing the drugs and then instructing people to sell them. There was no mention at the hearing of Almuttan’s work as an informant.
On Wednesday, Almuttan’s attorneys said in filing that White’s statements at sentencing were improper, noting prosecutors had dismissed the charges involving synthetic drugs.
“There was absolutely no evidence before this court that could even arguably support that finding,†the filing states.
Now, Almuttan’s attorneys are asking the judge to allow him to be out on bond while his appeal continues. Prosecutors will not oppose the request, according to court documents.
A representative of the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined comment, and Almuttan’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
The three former aldermen who pleaded guilty in their federal corruption cases are set to be sentenced next month. Weaver is set to be sentenced in January.
A hearing in Almuttan’s appeal has not been set.