Tea Woman Sentenced In Marijuana Distribution And Money Laundering Conspiracies

United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Tea, South Dakota, woman convicted of Conspiracy To Distribute Marijuana and Conspiracy To Commit Money Laundering was sentenced on December 8, 2014, by U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier.

Faith Ashely Rasmussen, age 21, was sentenced to 80 months in prison on each count, to run concurrently.  Upon release she will be under supervised release for a period of 4 years on the drug charge and 1 year on the money laundering charge, also to run concurrently.

Ramussen was indicted with three others for Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering by a federal grand jury on March 5, 2014.  She pled guilty to both offenses on September 2, 2014.

During her involvement in the distribution conspiracy, which ran from approximately January 2012 to December 2013, Rasmussen received marijuana through the mail in South Dakota from her source of supply in California.  When the amounts of marijuana became too large to mail, Rasmussen had co-conspirators drive to California and back to South Dakota with large quantities of marijuana. 

Rasmussen and others also formed a scheme to launder money.  Rasmussen deposited the proceeds of marijuana sales into her bank account in South Dakota.  She also deposited sales proceeds into the account of her source of supply, and instructed a co-conspirator to deposit marijuana proceeds into her account.  The Defendant never deposited more than $10,000 in cash per occasion to intentionally avoid bank reporting requirements. 

This case was investigated by the Sioux Falls Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations.  Assistant U.S. Attorney John E. Haak prosecuted the case.