Canadian Man Sentenced for Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering

BOSTON – A Canadian man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Boston in connection with his role in a drug trafficking and money laundering organization that imported Canadian marijuana and MDMA, the club drug also known as “ecstasy” or “mollie,” into the United States.

David Nguyen, 40, of Toronto, Canada, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $10,000.  In October 2016, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute MDMA and marijuana and one count of money laundering conspiracy.  Nguyen was indicted in January 2014 and arrested in Canada in May 2014.  In July 2016, Nguyen was ordered extradited, and in October 2016, he was temporarily surrendered from Canada to the United States.                                                             

From February 2010 to about March 2012, Nguyen conspired with others to move MDMA and marijuana over the Canadian-U.S. border.  Nguyen and a Canadian co-conspirator, Gurshuran Singh, recruited couriers to drive MDMA and marijuana to Joshua Rabinovitch in  Salem, Mass.  Rabinovitch then sold the drugs in the U.S. and returned the proceeds to Canada. 

In March 2012, Singh and Nguyen recruited Shivinder Kanwal to drive 15 kilos of MDMA to Rabinovitch and, in April 2012, they separately recruited co-defendant Adeel Bhutta to pick up $240,000 in drug proceeds from Rabinovitch. 

In July 2014, Bhutta was sentenced to 28 months in prison for his role in the money laundering conspiracy and in February 2015, Rabinovitch was sentenced to 24 months in prison for his role in the drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracies.  In August 2016, Singh pleaded guilty to participating in the drug and money laundering conspiracies and will be sentenced on April 5, 2017.  Kanwal pleaded guilty to participating in the drug conspiracy and will be sentenced on March 22, 2017.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today.  The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs provided assistance in securing Nguyen’s extradition to the United States.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth B. Kosto of Ortiz’s Cybercrime Unit and Timothy E. Moran of Ortiz’s Organized Crime and Gang Unit prosecuted the case.