FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

THURSDAY - June 12, 2008

HOPE MILLS MAN SENTENCED IN MONEY LAUNDERING SCHEME

WILMINGTON – United States Attorney George E.G. Holding announced that on Tuesday, June 10, 2008, Senior United States District Court James C. Fox sentenced MICHAEL WAGUESPACK, 39, of Hope Mills, North Carolina, to 5 months’ imprisonment and an additional 5 months’ home confinement for his participation in a money laundering scheme involving the proceeds of an illegal video poker machine business WAGUESPACK operated in the Fayetteville area. WAGUESPACK was also fined $4,000 in addition to civil settlements of $1,027,200.30 with the United States and $230,000 with Cumberland County, both of which arose from WAGUESPACK’S illegal gambling operations.

WAGUESPACK’S illegal conduct covered a period of time between 2000 and 2006, and ended when his business was raided by investigators and the video poker machines used in the business were seized by authorities. Proceeds from the operation had been used to expand and promote the growth of the gambling business. United States Attorney George E.B. Holding welcomed the sentence: “This sentence represents a clear statement that those who ignore the law in pursuit of profit will ultimately face serious consequences. The video poker business that brought this case into being created serious problems in the Cumberland County community, and we are pleased that it has been brought to an emphatic halt.”

Investigation of the case was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the North Carolina Bureau of Alcohol Law Enforcement (ALE), and the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U. S. Attorney Jay Exum handled the case for the United States.

News releases are available on the U. S. Attorney’s web page at www.usdoj.gov/usao/nce within 48 hours of release.