Marion
auto dealer sentenced to 16 months for laundering marijuana
traffickers' money
Susan W. Brooks, United States Attorney for the Southern District of
Indiana,
announced that EDWIN W. BLINN, JR., 40, a resident of
Marion, Indiana, was sentenced
today by United States District Court Judge David F.
Hamilton to 16 months’ imprisonment
and fined $40,000. BLINN was further ordered to forfeit
$40,000, as substitute proceeds of
the property used in the offense, Conspiracy to Conduct
and Attempt to Conduct Financial
Transactions Affecting Interstate Commerce. The indictment
followed a joint investigation by
the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue
Service, the J.E.A.N. Team Drug
Task Force, the Marion Police Department, and the Anderson
Police Department.
The investigation revealed that in
an effort to conceal the true nature of the marijuana
trafficking proceeds, JOSHUAH KEMP, 31, and MASHAWN KEMP,
33, brothers and
Marion, Indiana residents, purchased vehicles from Blinn
Enterprises located in Marion,
Indiana. Working to assist in the concealment, BLINN
titled the vehicles in nominee names
and provided separate checks to JOSHUAH KEMP to further
disguise the true ownership. In
exchange for his assistance, BLINN was paid a premium
of approximately $2,000.00 to
$5,000.00 per vehicle.
In pronouncing BLINN’ s sentence, Judge Hamilton said
“ The offense here is not
drug trafficking itself, but is a crime essential to
drug trafficking. If dealers cannot launder
their money, they cannot enjoy their profits. You knew
what you were doing, enabling drug
traffickers in your community.”
On December 22, 2004, JOSHUAH KEMP was sentenced to 63
months’
imprisonment and 5 years’ supervised release to follow
the term of incarceration.
MASHAWN KEMP was sentenced to 84 months’ imprisonment
and 5 years’ supervised
release to follow the term of incarceration. JOSHUAH
KEMP and MASHAWN KEMP each
pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Possess With Intent to
Distribute and to Distribute 100
Kilograms or More of Marijuana, and Conspiracy to Conduct
and Attempt to Conduct
Financial Transactions Affecting Interstate Commerce.
On August 2, 2005, WALTER APPLEWHITE, a former Marion,
Indiana resident, was
sentenced to 37 months’ imprisonment and 3 years’ supervised
release to follow the term of
incarceration. APPLEWHITE pleaded guilty to Conspiracy
to Possess With Intent to
Distribute in Excess of 50 Kilograms of Marijuana.
According to Assistant United States Attorney Cynthia
J. Ridgeway, who prosecuted
the case for the government, BLINN will be placed on
three years supervised release following
completion of his prison sentence..
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/ins/press_releases/Pressrelease06/20060630.Blinn.pdf
|
