https://www.kolotv.com/2024/03/18/nevada-man-sentenced-8-years-money-laundering-importing-processing-distributing-opioids/

A Las Vegas man will spend the next eight years in prison after being convicted of money laundering and drug charges.

51-year-old Christopher S. Housley will then spend three years on parole after a jury found he imported, processed, and distributed nearly 300 pounds of Tapentadol, a schedule 2 opioid across the U.S. Housley was also convicted of laundering the drug sale proceeds using shell companies.

Court documents show that Housley used fraudulent identifications to rent postal boxes at several UPS stores in Las Vegas. In January 2021, law enforcement seized parcels containing Carisoprodol, Tadalafil, and Sildenafil from India and addressed to Housley.

Law enforcement would seize nearly 300,000 Tapentadol pills weighing more than 300 pounds.

In July 2021, Housley and a co-conspirator obtained a large industrial pill press, and in October of that year, Housley sought a Hello Kitty die to press pills with that logo. After importing and processing the drugs, Housley would then distribute them around the country.

Housley would also create two shell companies to help him pay for the drugs, and for receiving payment for the drug sales.

The court found that between September 2020 and October 2021, the shell companies wired a total of around $116,000 to accounts in India, China, and Singapore. Between July 2021 and January 2022, deposits of around $350,000 were made into those accounts.

On May 3, 2022, law enforcement executed a search warrant on a storage unit rented by Housley under a fake name. Police found that it contained Tapentadol, Alprazolam, and other controlled substances.

After his arrest, Housley would go on to plead guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and 20 counts of money laundering.