SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Matthew Luke Gillum, 32, of Meadow Vista, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. to nine years in prison for conspiring to distribute marijuana and avoiding a currency transaction reporting requirement, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.
According to court documents, Gillum, was the leader of a drug trafficking organization (DTO) that operated in the greater Sacramento area. The Gillum DTO shipped marijuana through the United States mail to various locations outside of California. In order to conduct his drug trafficking operation, Gillum solicited, hired, and utilized the services of at least five individuals to open post office boxes, collect drug trafficking proceeds, ship marijuana parcels, manufacture and supply marijuana, and facilitate the clandestine communications of the DTO.
The Gillum DTO solicited marijuana orders via the Silk Road website. Marijuana purchasers shipped cash payments to various post office boxes controlled by the Gillum DTO throughout the Sacramento region. Once payment was received, the Gillum DTO would ship the selected type and quantity of marijuana to the purchaser. Between August 2012 and July 2013, the Gillum DTO distributed at least 600 pounds of marijuana, much of it through Express Mail parcels sent from the Sacramento region to 16 different states. During the course of the investigation, the United States seized over $700,000 from a bitcoin account controlled by Gillum.
On February 27, 2013, Gillum purchased a diamond ring from Tiffany and Co. for $105,900 in cash. Because the transaction involved more than $10,000 in cash, Tiffany was required to file an IRS Form 8300 (Report of Cash Payments Over $10,000 Received in a Trade or Business) in Gillum’s name. However, although Gillum paid for the ring, he used a nominee to fill out the paperwork as if the nominee purchased the ring.
This case was the product of an investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, the Central Valley HIDTA Task Force, CAL-MET, Placer County Special Investigations Unit, and Rocklin Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Justin Lee and Kevin Khasigian prosecuted the case.