Las Vegas Man Pleads Guilty To Shipping Packages Of Controlled Substances From Las Vegas To Tennessee And Texas

LAS VEGAS, Nev.  – A Las Vegas man pleaded guilty today to shipping illegal drugs, including codeine and marijuana, from Nevada to other states, and using a false identity and structured bank deposits to hide over $850,000 in proceeds that he received from the drug trafficking activities, announced U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden, for the District of Nevada.

Damien Williams, 26, pleaded guilty before Senior U.S. District Judge Howard D. McKibben to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, one count of conspiracy to launder money, and one count of aggravated identity theft, and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 22, 2015. Williams faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on the drug and money laundering counts, two consecutive years in prison on the aggravated identity theft count, and fines of up to $1 million.

“We work with our local and federal law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute persons who are unlawfully using the mails to ship controlled substances to other states,” said U.S. Attorney Bogden. “As this case shows, using a false identity and structuring your bank deposits is not going to go unnoticed by our investigators.”

According to the guilty plea agreement, between May 2012 and October 2013, Williams used the identification documents of “Goldie Cage” to obtain a Nevada identification card, rent an apartment, obtain an automobile loan, and open bank accounts Cage’s name. During the same period, Williams was sending packages of controlled substances, including codeine and marijuana, to persons in Tennessee and Texas.  In exchange for the controlled substances, Williams received approximately $856,000 in proceeds, which were deposited by persons in other states into the bank accounts that Williams had opened under Cage’s name.  Williams would then withdraw the funds and use them in furtherance of additional illegal drug activities.  The deposits and withdrawals were structured in amounts of less than $10,000 in order to avoid federal bank reporting requirements.

This case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Henderson Police Department.