I Made Millions Selling K2 — Then Landed in Federal Prison | Roger Upchurch

Locked In with Ian Bick

Ian Bick

Society & Culture

4.8 • 745 Ratings

🗓️ 14 July 2025

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Roger Upchurch was a successful homebuilder in Indiana—until the 2008 market crash pushed him into the synthetic marijuana trade. He built a multi-million dollar K2 empire, making over $50,000 a week, until an undercover DEA agent brought it all down. At 69 years old, Roger was sentenced to 4 years in federal prison for drug trafficking and money laundering. In this jaw-dropping episode, he reveals how he went from building homes to building a drug empire—and what it cost him. #TrueCrimeStory #FederalPrison #DEAInvestigation #SyntheticMarijuana #K2DrugBust #RealCrimeRealPeople #PrisonTransformation #FromMillionsToPrison Connect with Roger Upchurch: Order his book: https://www.amazon.com/Guilty-Til-Proven-Innocent-Brilliant/dp/1649691327 Visit his website: https://rogerwupchurch.com/ Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Presented by Tyson 2.0 & Wooooo Energy: https://tyson20.com/ https://woooooenergy.com/ Buy Merch: http://www.ianbick.com/shop Timestamps: 00:00:00 From Home Builder to Prisoner: The Roger Upchurch Story 00:04:40 Journey to Home Building Career 00:08:21 Transition from Real Estate to K2 Business 00:12:59 DEA Raid and Financial Seizure 00:18:00 The Business of Selling K2 00:22:21 Managing a Business with Limited Capital 00:26:31 Setting Up a Makeshift Production Line 00:31:16 Concerts and Charity Events for Veterans 00:35:34 Entering a Business Partnership and Profit Sharing 00:39:48 Expectations vs. Reality: First Impressions of Prison 00:44:35 Unseen Side of Incarceration: Professional Underpinnings 00:48:55 Life as a Camp Driver in Prison 00:53:16 Life during Lockdown in a Prison Camp 00:57:09 Navigating Life with the "OG" Title in Prison 01:01:12 Life After Prison: Overcoming Obstacles with a Criminal Record 01:05:16 Charity Event Featuring Car Giveaway 01:09:52 Episode Conclusion Powered by: Just Media House : https://www.justmediahouse.com/ Creative direction, design, assets, support by FWRD: https://www.fwrd.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:30.2	Never thought at 69 I would be in trouble the law. Never thought at 69 I'd be in a prison
1:35.4	camp, but here I was. Roger Upchurch was a successful home builder in Indiana until the 2008
1:41.3	market crash forced him to reinvent himself.
1:50.0	What started as a hustle and synthetic marijuana turned into a multi-million dollar empire until an undercover DEA agent brought it all crashing down.
1:54.4	At 69 years old, Roger was sentenced to federal prison for money laundering and selling a controlled substance.
	...

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