Man Prosecuted for Passing Off Pop-Tarts as Cocaine

Nothing will get a drug dealer tarred and feathered quicker than trying to pass off a breakfast food for cocaine.

Authorities say 30-year-old Cameron Mitchell was running a tasty drug operation that involved selling broken-up Pop-Tarts to his customers under the pretense that it was crack cocaine. Mitchell’s scam was foiled by law enforcement earlier last week after selling pieces of a toaster pastry to an undercover drug agent.

According to reports, Mitchell agreed to meet with the undercover officer at a convenience store in Halifax County to finalize a $20 crack deal. Of course, as soon as the cash changed hands, several sheriffs deputies swooped in and arrested the man for allegedly selling cocaine.

However, test results confirmed that the crack rock Mitchell sold to the agent was not cocaine at all. It was not until officers interrogated him later in the day that he confessed to the substance actually being a corner piece of a Pop-Tart and not an illegal drug.

While there is some controversy surrounding the entrapment tactics practiced by the police in this case, North Carolina law indicates that anyone who pretends to be a drug dealer is still committing a crime.

“It is the general rule that where the criminal intent and design originates in the mind of one other than the defendant, and the defendant is, by persuasion, trickery or fraud, incited and induced to commit the crime charged in order to prosecute him for it, when he would not have committed the crime, except for such incitements and inducements, these circumstances constitute entrapment and a valid defense,” according to a state court ruling.

Mitchell is now facing several charges, which include the counterfeiting and sales of a controlled substance.

Incidentally, the prosecution says he is toast.