LAKE PLACID — A Lake Placid man faces 20 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to participating in a national cocaine and cannabis distribution ring, as well as money laundering through a local real estate company he started.

Court documents show that Jason Hogue, 44, who also went by the nickname “Whispers,” distributed hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and thousands of kilograms of cannabis since as early as 2020, getting bricks of cocaine delivered to his home in a mobile home park in town, running an unlicensed cannabis farm in California, and selling both locally.

One kilogram is equivalent to a little more than two pounds.

Court documents say Hogue had laundered $30,000. The plea agreement says he is personally accountable for trafficking 300 kilograms of cocaine and 5,443 kilograms of cannabis.

On June 12, his Lake Placid home was raided, and officers found 495 grams of cocaine and $235,422 in cash.

A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of New York, says the arrest was the culmination of an 18-month-long investigation that involved the New York State Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In total, 13 people have been arrested and charged with sourcing cocaine and meth from Mexico and cannabis from California and Oklahoma, trucking the drugs to New York City and distributing them around the state.

“As a member of the organization, the defendant regularly received kilograms of cocaine, which he sold in and around Lake Placid,” according to court documents. “(He) also invested in and ran a large-scale marijuana farm in California and laundered drug proceeds.”

Court documents say he ran an unlicensed commercial cannabis growing operation in California with one of the drug ring leaders — Samer Abdelhak, 35, of Fresh Meadows, New York. Texts in court documents show Hogue saying the operation produced 12,000 pounds a year. This farm was raided by California law enforcement and shut down in 2022.

Text messages between Hogue and Abdelhak show he planned to invest in Lake Placid real estate through his LLC, Whispers Investskis, which had an account at a local credit union. He planned to have the money laundered by professionals brought in by Abdelhak.

In July and August of 2024, law enforcement purchased cocaine from Hogue in Lake Placid three times. They purchased a total of 68 grams of cocaine for $3,000.

Court documents say he mostly received cocaine deliveries from couriers at his trailer in a mobile home park in Lake Placid, but also at a casino in Schenectady and in New York City. Deliveries were usually one kilogram for $20,000.

In February, law enforcement stopped and searched a tractor-trailer involved in the trafficking in the Bronx and found 240 kilograms of cocaine hidden in chest freezers and 686 pounds of cannabis in cardboard boxes. Messages from Abdelhak to Hogue claim this was valued at $3 million. Cocaine is a Schedule II controlled substance.

According to the Albany Times Union, Hogue left a state job as a recreation aide to invest in the cannabis farm.

According to the plea agreement, he will forfeit more than $313,000 seized from his residence and checking account, as well as a truck and a motorcycle purchased with money from selling the drugs.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 22, 2026.