Man gets 33 months for Wakarusa arrest

An Oregon man has been sentenced to 33 months in federal prison, after he pleaded guilty trying to peddle LSD, mushrooms and other drugs from a van at the 2005 Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival.

Luke A. Russell, 28, Brightwood, Ore., was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court.

Russell pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.

He and two other men were arrested June 20, 2005, in a campground at Clinton State Park during the festival.

A park ranger stopped when he saw a man next to a blue van fill a balloon from a tank of nitrous oxide and inhale the gas. The ranger smelled marijuana smoke coming from the van and called the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office for assistance. Officers seized more than 1,700 grams of Ecstasy (MDMA), 949 doses of LSD, more than 4,000 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, more than 28 grams of marijuana and more than $9,000 in cash, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Arrested along with Russell were Joseph Cronin and Daniel Regan. Cronin is set for sentencing Aug. 4. Regan was sentenced to two years probation.