Fort Wayne Man Sentenced for Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering; Woman Sentenced for Money Laundering

INDIANAPOLIS—Jermoine Gorman, 30, Fort Wayne, was sentenced to 168 months in prison late yesterday by U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Barker following his guilty pleas to conspiracies to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and to launder the proceeds. Tokaya Hogan, 27, Fort Wayne, was sentenced to 24 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering related to the proceeds of the drug trafficking. On March 4, 2010, Tarik Purifoy, who assisted Gorman in laundering drug proceeds in regard to the purchase of a Bentley vehicle, was sentenced to 30 months in prison. This case was the result of a lengthy investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

Beginning in January of 2006, a multi-agency investigation commenced involving a cocaine drug trafficking organization. As the investigation expanded, the IRS began pursing financial information regarding money laundering violations. In 2005, Gorman was introduced to Shawn Young and arranged cocaine transactions with a source in the Los Angeles area. Young agreed to ship money provided by Gorman to that supplier, who shipped cocaine to Indiana. Gorman transported cocaine to Indianapolis and delivered it to Young and others for distribution.

Tokaya Hogan was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering related to the drug proceeds from the cocaine trafficking in a second superseding indictment in July of 2008. More than $163,000 in drug proceeds were deposited into an account maintained by Hogan who subsequently wrote checks from the account on Gorman’s behalf. Between 2004 and 2007, drug proceeds were used as payments from the account on an Infiniti vehicle.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Melanie C. Conour, who prosecuted the case for the government, Judge Barker also imposed five years of supervised release following Gorman’s release from prison, and two years of supervised release following Hogan’s release.