Madison, Wis. - John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Joseph P. Loomis, 29, Holmen, Wis., was sentenced yesterday to 20 years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Barbara B. Crabb for conspiring to possess and distribute cocaine and for money laundering. Loomis pleaded guilty to the charges on February 2, 2012.

Loomis was the leader of a drug organization that distributed between 15 and 50 kilograms of cocaine in the La Crosse, Wis. area from approximately April 2006 to September 2008. He also distributed large quantities of marijuana from 2006 through the spring of 2011. Loomis maintained stash houses and used other individuals to pick up, package, store, and distribute drugs. He also used another individual to collect drug debts. Loomis was under a deferred prosecution agreement and probation for other state drug charges during some of the time he distributed the drugs in this case.
Loomis laundered drug proceeds through the use of a Netspend stored value card by depositing large sums of cash onto the card and then using the card to purchase items from, among other retailers, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, and Tiffany. Loomis told a drug associate that he thought the card was "untraceable".

In sentencing Loomis, the Court also determined that he had obstructed justice when he asked an employee of a financial institution to tape over a surveillance tape before giving it to law enforcement in response to a subpoena.

The charges against Loomis were the result of an investigation conducted by the Internal Revenue Service; Drug Enforcement Administration; Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation; La Crosse Police Department; and Onalaska Police Department. The prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephen P. Sinnott and Meredith P. Duchemin.

 

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