Jackson Woman Sentenced to 18 Months for Money Laundering

Jackson, Miss. – Erika Shanta Kelly, 42, of Jackson, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III to serve 18 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for money laundering, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Jere T. Miles, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations, New Orleans Division.  Kelly was also ordered to pay a $1500 fine.

Kelly previously pled guilty to conducting three separate financial transactions with proceeds from drug trafficking.  On April 22, 2014, March 3, 2015, and September 4, 2015, Kelly used money obtained from drug trafficking to purchase and make payments on vehicles. The purchases and payments made were to conceal or disguise the nature, source, ownership and control of the money.  

On November 28, 2017, a federal grand jury indicted Kelly for conspiracy to launder money and using proceeds from drug trafficking to purchase vehicles for another person.  

This case is the result of an extensive Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation, dubbed AOperation Pipeline,@ which began as an operation targeting illegal narcotics distribution in central Mississippi involving cocaine and marijuana.  The distribution network encompasses the States of California, Texas and Mississippi.

The OCDETF program is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations, and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.

This OCDETF operation was a joint investigation by Homeland Security Investigations and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, with assistance from Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Mississippi Highway Patrol, Jackson Police Department, and the Hinds County Sheriff’s Department.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Erin Chalk.