Texas Man Sentenced on Drug and Money Laundering Conspiracy Charges

BUFFALO, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Will Johnson, 32, of League City, Texas, who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute kilograms of cocaine and conspiracy to commit money laundering, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years’ supervised release by Chief U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Catherine Baumgarten, who handled the case stated that Johnson, formerly of Buffalo, distributed kilograms of cocaine from the Houston area to other individuals who thereafter distributed that cocaine in Buffalo and elsewhere in the Western New York. In July, 2010, during a wiretap investigation, law enforcement officers executed search warrants at locations including an apartment leased by the defendant in Missouri City, Texas, and his residence at 1546 Viejo Drive, in League City, Texas. Officers seized cocaine and plastic wrappers consistent with packaging for multiple kilograms of cocaine, $55,000, a .44 caliber loaded handgun, and boxes of assorted ammunition.

Johnson also deposited and transferred funds generated as a result of his drug trafficking through and to financial institutions. For instance, the defendant paid approximately $13,000 to a used car lot (Maxx Auto Sales) in Buffalo to purchase a 2004 Escalade motor vehicle. Johnson also arranged to have cash deposits of $20,000, proceeds from his unlawful distribution of cocaine, made into bank accounts. The funds were then used as a down payment for the defendant’s residence at 1546 Viejo Road in League City, Texas. As part of his sentence, Johnson will forfeit $203,000 in cash.

Johnson is one of the 20 defendants convicted as a result of this drug investigation.

This conviction is the culmination of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Brian R. Crowell, Special Agent in Charge, New York Field Division; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Lanser; Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James C. Spero; the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Weirauch; and the Niagara County Drug Enforcement Task Force, under the direction of Sheriff James Votour.