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FORT PIERCE (AP) — Three Floridians are looking at stretches in prison after pleading guilty to a conspiracy to acquire and distribute the illegal synthetic drug known as "spice."

All three are from the Tampa area. Pleading guilty to a pair of federal drug conspiracy charges were 28-year-old Ahmed Yehia Khalifa and 25-year-old Ahmed Maher Elhelw. They face up to 20 years in prison on each charge and have agreed to forfeit more than $472,000 in assets.

The third defendant, 24-year-old Tanjina Islam Piya, faces up to three years behind bars after pleading guilty to a drug paraphernalia conspiracy charge.

Still scheduled to stand trial later in August in Fort Pierce is a fourth suspect, Saiful Hossain.

In November, authorities making one arrest seized packages containing a key "spice" chemical worth more than $5.4 million.

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