Fragrance Hut Owner Remains In Jail Pending Federal Synthetic Drug Trial

A Cedar Rapids man accused of distributing synthetic drugs from the Fragrance Hut will remain in custody pending a federal trial based on probable cause and his long history of criminal offenses.Matthew McCauley, 39, was charged two weeks ago with one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises. He is accused of storing and distributing synthetic cannabinoids for the purpose of human consumption from the business at 2902 First Ave NE, from February through March, according to the criminal complaint.According to testimony at Tuesday’s detention hearing, McCauley told a pretrial services officer that he sold the Fragrance Hut about three months ago to his friend Anthony “Brice,” which a prosecutor contends is Anthony Rice, a man stopped for a traffic violation in March.