Jul.01, 2010

A popular disc jockey convicted of selling marijuana and laundering the proceeds was sentenced Tuesday in federal court to 30 months in prison.

Randy Russell, 30, of Burlington -- known professionally as DJ Randy -- also was sentenced by Chief Judge William Sessions III to subsequently serve three years supervised release and ordered to forfeit his interest in Justin Cruz Salon.

Russell, a co-owner of Lotus Entertainment, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana and money laundering. According to court records, Russell invested about $90,000 of his drug proceeds in the defunct Justin Cruz Salon on Battery Street in Burlington and deposited more than $100,000 in cash drug proceeds in two bank accounts in 2006 and 2007.

Russell had argued he used much of the proceeds to care for his family, including a disabled uncle in Bristol. But prosecutors said Russell used the money to live a "high-spending, high-rolling lifestyle that included extensive traveling, nightclubbing, snowboarding and renting a primary residence on Lake Champlain in Colchester and secondary residence in Stowe," according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Michael Ryan, the co-defendant in the case, also pleaded guilty to similar charges. He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 16.