Woonsocket Man Sentenced for Laundering Proceeds in Transcontinental Drug Trafficking Operation

PROVIDENCE – A Woonsocket man with a lengthy Rhode Island state and federal criminal record and a history of violating conditions of his probation and supervised release was sentenced today to four years in federal prison for laundering as much as $500,000 in proceeds from the trafficking of marijuana in the Woonsocket area; the marijuana was obtained from a west coast-based drug trafficking organization.

Kyle S. Minot, 31, previously admitted to the court that he employed at least five individuals to deposit the proceeds of dozens of drug sales into “feeder” bank accounts, representing payment he owed his marijuana suppliers, a California-based drug trafficking organization. “Feeder” accounts, held in fictious names, conceal the origin and ownership of the money. Each deposit was kept to just under $10,000 to avoid bank reporting laws. The proceeds were withdrawn from the accounts by members of the drug trafficking organization in California.

According to information presented to the court, Minot’s drug trafficking and money laundering activities came to light during a long-term DEA and IRS led Boston Strike Force investigation begun in the fall of 2014 into the leadership of the transcontinental marijuana trafficking and money-laundering organization. Minot was later identified as having met in nearby Massachusetts with the leader of the organization in furtherance of the scheme.

According to court documents, Minot’s role in the marijuana trafficking and money laundering organization came to light while Minot was simultaneously the subject of a wide-ranging Rhode Island State Police investigation into the criminal activities of members of a motorcycle gang code named Operation Patched Out. Minot was heard on a State Police wiretap discussing his ongoing marijuana trafficking activities and obtaining stolen equipment for use in his landscaping business. Minot was incarcerated after his arrest as a state probation violator and was later convicted in state court on 14 charges,  including receiving stolen property and drug trafficking offenses. He was sentenced to five years in prison – one year to serve, the remainder suspended with probation.

At the time Minot was overheard on the State Police wiretap discussing his then-ongoing criminal activities, Minot was subject to federal supervised release, having been convicted and sentenced for firearms trafficking. Separately, while on federal supervised release in that matter, Minot was convicted in state court on drug trafficking charges and a motor vehicle offense.

Appearing today before U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy, Minot, who pled guilty on October 25, 2019, to money laundering, was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison to be followed by three years of federal supervised release, and to pay a fine of $20,000, announced Acting United States Attorney Richard B. Myrus, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New England Field Division Brian D. Boyle, and Acting Special Agent in Charge of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Ramsey E. Covington.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Gerard B. Sullivan.

Acting United States Attorney Myrus thanks the Woonsocket Police Department and Rhode Island State Police for their assistance in this matter.

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