By LYNDA COHEN BreakingAC
A Somers Point couple who advertised their illegal cannabis business online has pleaded guilty to first-degree drug charges.
Garmans Goods had business cards, flyers and videos promoting their business. John Garman even ran promotions where people went on treasure hunts to find free product hidden around town.
He and girlfriend Donna Shiffler share three children, with the eldest — 14 at the time — employed in the family business, Garman admitted when he pleaded guilty in March.
Garman, 39, faces a 10-year sentence, while Shiffler faces five years.
Garman pleaded guilty in March, but the agreements were not announced until Shiffler pleaded Wednesday.
Both admitted to first-degree charges of possession with intent to distribute marijuana and maintaining a drug-production facility, along with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
Garman also pleaded guilty to second-degree charges of conspiracy to possess marijuana to distribute and money laundering, along with first-degree employing a juvenile in a criminal enterprise.
Messages spanning over a year indicated the pair regularly used their eldest son to prepare, package and sell drugs on their behalf, according to the affidavit of probable cause previously reported by BreakingAC.
Digital evidence also revealed that Garman and Shiffler compensated their son in drugs, including marijuana and THC products.
Some of the drugs were found in the teen’s room when the home was raided, BreakingAC previously reported.
He was also home at the time of the raid while his 12- and 7-year-old siblings were at school.
“I have never seen a case where a parent induced the child to engage in illegal activity and also to engage in the use of an illegal drug as payment for his participation in the illegal activity,” Judge Patricia Wild said during detention hearings in August.
“What these parents were doing is damaging the brain of that 14-year-old, possibly the 12-year-old and possibly the 7-year-old,” Wild added. “They made their child a victim is what they did in this particular case. It’s absolutely gut-wrenching.”
She called the couple “brazen” in how the company was run.
It was public enough to spark an investigation that included Garman selling marijuana, psilocybin mushrooms and THC edible products to an undercover detective at the Ocean Heights Shopping Plaza in Somers Point.
Garman told the officer that with the summer months approaching, he was going to have someone distribute his business cards on the Boardwalk, the affidavit states. The name of the person was redacted.
Garman was arrested last May after police seized about 65 pounds of marijuana, 32 pounds of THC gummy candy, 1½ pounds of Psilocybin mushrooms, 10 pounds of THC cartridges and half-pound of additional THC-infused candy, according to the report at the time. There was also about $119,526 in cash confiscated.
The community rallied around the family when news broke.
In a GoFundMe his sister started for the family, many donors wrote of Garman’s kindness and generosity.
“John and his family are in a very hard spot where they have lost everything,” Jessica Garman wrote. “Everything, right down to their last dollar.”
The still-active page raised $4,960.
Shiffler was arrested days after Garman, and released following a detention hearing. Garman was at first held, but the state then consented to his release as well.
Both remain free pending their sentencings.
Garman is set to be sentenced May 20. Shiffler is scheduled for July 9.
