Alaska Money Launderer Sentenced

FEB 05 -- (Anchorage, AK) – DEA Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Arnold R. Moorin and the Acting United States Attorney for the District of Alaska, Karen Loeffler, announced that on February 3, 2009, Bret W. Hendren, a resident of Anchorage, Alaska, was sentenced in federal court to 10 months of confinement and a $6,000 fine on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering involving property in excess of $10,000.

The court was advised that in or about March 2005, Hendren purchased on behalf of Thomas Ranes a Kibbi, LLC, 2005 Renegade Motorhome and a Kibbi enclosed trailer. Ranes provided Hendren with $93,000 in cash to use as the down payment. Hendren then deposited the money into the bank and then made the purchases on behalf of Ranes. In order to make payments for the motor home and trailer, Ranes would bring Hendren cash in approximately $5,000 increments. On one occasion, the money that Ranes brought Hendren smelled liked marijuana. In total, Hendren accepted approximately $150,000 in cash from Ranes, representing the proceeds of Ranes’ drug trafficking, in payments for the motor home and trailer. Ranes is currently serving a 30-year sentence for his part in the related marijuana-trafficking conspiracy.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Alaska State Troopers Major Offenders Unit.