MADISON, WIS. - John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Kyle D. Lux, 28, Madison, Wis., was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 30 months in federal prison for money laundering and for conspiring to distribute marijuana. Lux pled guilty to these offenses on July 13, 2016.
Lux is the first of six defendants to be sentenced in the Oregon-based marijuana distribution and money laundering scheme. The investigation showed that the defendants shipped parcels containing, in total, more than 700 pounds of marijuana from Oregon to locations throughout the United States and laundered more than $2.5 million in marijuana proceeds through U.S. banks.
Judge Conley indicated that he imposed the severe sentence to deter others in states where state laws permit marijuana distribution from the “siren song” of easy money by distributing marijuana to other states.
The remaining five defendants charged along with Lux have pled guilty to offenses related to the scheme and will be sentenced as noted below:
- Stevenson Tran, 24, Portland, Ore., will be sentenced on November 15, 2016;
- Loc Bui, 42, Portland, will be sentenced on November 30, 2016;
- Quan Tran, 36, Portland, will be sentenced on December 6, 2016;
- Thay Kah Danh, 34, Madison, will be sentenced on December 7, 2016; and
- Peter Nguyen, 35, Portland, will be sentenced on December 9, 2016.
The investigation into this conspiracy was conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation; IRS Criminal Investigation; and Drug Enforcement Administration. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy M. O’Shea.