3 ms·

I did 5 years for money laundering under 18 USC 1956(a), and I don't even know how to launder money. Sometimes they choose to charge you with money laundering

I did 5 years for money laundering under 18 USC 1956(a), and I don't even know how to launder money. Sometimes they choose to charge you with money laundering because they can't actually catch you for another crime. Other times they choose money laundering because it carries a higher sentence than the underlying crime.

shawabawa3 13y ago
Would you mind sharing some more details? What did you do? And how did they turn that into money laundering?
- ptk 13y ago
  This should get you started -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Lamprecht https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Lamprecht The cited external links should provide more depth.
antiterra 13y ago
So is this inaccurate?: With the help of at least one other person, the roommates re-sold these [stolen] high-end components to various telephony equipment suppliers nationwide, washing the checks through a series of falsified bank accounts and voice-mail business fronts. - http://www.fineorsuperfine.com/newyorkpress31.html http://www.fineorsuperfine.com/newyorkpress31.html
- clamprecht 13y ago
  The sentence you quoted is mostly accurate. It says a "series of falsified bank accounts" - I'm not sure what they mean by a series. There were either 2 or 3 bank accounts under fake names. But this doesn't do anything to conceal the source of the funds, or make them appear legitimate. And I thought money laundering was all about making illegal money appear legal, by "washing" it. This is one of the problems with the money laundering law - it is pretty vague. The prosecutors in my case could have easily charged us with interstate transportation of stolen property, and then my sentence would have been half of what I actually received. If you do some more googling, you will find that the US Sentencing Commission investigated this sentencing disparity, including my own case. My prosecutor was pissed.

shawabawa3 13y ago

Would you mind sharing some more details? What did you do? And how did they turn that into money laundering?

ptk 13y ago
This should get you started -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Lamprecht https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Lamprecht The cited external links should provide more depth.

antiterra 13y ago

So is this inaccurate?: With the help of at least one other person, the roommates re-sold these [stolen] high-end components to various telephony equipment suppliers nationwide, washing the checks through a series of falsified bank accounts and voice-mail business fronts. - http://www.fineorsuperfine.com/newyorkpress31.html http://www.fineorsuperfine.com/newyorkpress31.html

clamprecht 13y ago
The sentence you quoted is mostly accurate. It says a "series of falsified bank accounts" - I'm not sure what they mean by a series. There were either 2 or 3 bank accounts under fake names. But this doesn't do anything to conceal the source of the funds, or make them appear legitimate. And I thought money laundering was all about making illegal money appear legal, by "washing" it. This is one of the problems with the money laundering law - it is pretty vague. The prosecutors in my case could have easily charged us with interstate transportation of stolen property, and then my sentence would have been half of what I actually received. If you do some more googling, you will find that the US Sentencing Commission investigated this sentencing disparity, including my own case. My prosecutor was pissed.