ATLANTA — After convincing his mother and elderly grandmother to purchase luxury vehicles to launder profits from a drug smuggling operation, an Atlanta man is now facing several years in prison time. After committing fraud while on bond for those charges, the Atlanta man is also facing dozens of thousands in restitution charges. That's all according to officials following an investigation from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department.
Since at least 2010, according to U.S. Attorney Erskine in a Department of Justice press release, the man distributed cocaine in the Atlanta area by the kilograms. While he sometimes bought and sold cocaine to his own customers, he also picked up and delivered bags of cash and drugs to other members of his drug trafficking operation.
Law enforcement officers said he was recorded on bank security cameras depositing money into accounts controlled by other group members. He also wired money from the operation to his associates.
The man even convinced his mother and grandmother to purchase a series of luxury cars in their own names as a way to launder cash profits from the drug trafficking operation, Erskine said.
In 2018, he was indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and money laundering. Arrested the following month, the man was released on bond while the charges were pending.
Officials soon discovered, according to the Department of Justice, that he had fraudulently obtained two Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for a total of $41,666 in April and May of 2021 while still on bond. He filed false tax return forms, claiming he ran a barbershop and a retail business.
“It’s shocking that, while under indictment for drug trafficking and money laundering … (he) had the audacity to defraud a program meant to help people and businesses struggling for existence during the pandemic in order to fund his luxury shopping sprees,” U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine said. “We are grateful to our federal and state law enforcement partners whose efforts brought this defendant to justice.”
Authorities said the man then spent all of the loaned money in less than a single month, having purchased items from Prada, Louis Vuitton, Saks Fifth Avenue and more.
Records show he first pled guilty to his original conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and money laundering charges on June 2, 2021, before also pleading guilty to wire fraud on Jan. 21, 2022. Sentenced on both guilty pleas in a single hearing, he was granted a seven-year prison term, five years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution to PPP lenders and the U.S. Small Business Administration in the amount of $46,666.
