Oakland, California, Man Pleads Guilty To Marijuana Conspiracy And Money Laundering

Alfonso Hayden, 44, of Oakland, California, pled guilty in federal district court, in East St. Louis, to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute marijuana and attempted money laundering, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today.

Hayden is scheduled for sentencing on January 15, 2014. He faces a potential sentence of 5 years in prison for marijuana conspiracy and a fine of up to $250,000, not more than 2 years of supervised release after his prison term, and a mandatory special assessment of $100. He also faces a potential sentence of 20 years in prison for attempted money laundering, a fine of up to $500,000, not more than 3 years of supervised release after his prison term, and a mandatory assessment of $100.

Court proceedings revealed in April 2010, DEA agents began investigating Hayden as the supply source of marijuana and cocaine between December 2009 and June 2010 for a drug distribution business in operation since the early 2000s, in Eagle Park, in Madison County, Illinois. To date, twenty-eight other members of the organization have been convicted and sentenced.

Evidence in support of the indictment was obtained in an investigation which was conducted under the auspices of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). The OCDETF initiative is designed to bring federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and resources together to identify, target and dismantle large national and international drug trafficking organizations. Participating agencies include the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Homeland Security Investigations (ICE HSI), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), U.S. Marshal Service, the Granite City Police Department, Fairmount City Police Department, Collinsville Police Department, Pontoon Beach Police Department, Park Hills (Missouri) Police Department, the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department, and the Illinois State Police. This case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Daniel T. Kapsak.