Tobacco Farmer Sentenced For Money Laundering Through Slot Machines

Tobacco farmer gets six years in prison for laundering $2 million through slot machines

William D. Humphries, a South Carolina tobacco farmer, leaves federal court in Syracuse after a judge sentenced him to six years in prison for laundering the profits of marijuana dealers by running $1.9 million through slot machines at the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian reservation in Northern New York. (John O'Brien | jobrien@syracuse.com)

 

By John O'Brien | jobrien@syracuse.com

 

The Post-Standard

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A South Carolina tobacco farmer was sentenced to six years in prison today for trying to conceal the profits of drug dealers by running the money through slot machines at the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Reservation in Northern New York.
U.S. District Judge Norman Mordue imposed the sentence on William D. Humphries, 67, of Lake City, S.C.
A federal jury last year convicted Humphries of 41 counts of money laundering, along with traveling in aid of racketeering, wire fraud conspiracy to defraud Canada of tax revenue, and conspiring to manufacture tobacco products without a license.
The Canadian government lost $40 million in tax revenues that it would have received if the cigarettes hadn't been sold on the black market by the manufacturer Humphries was selling his tobacco to, Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl Eurenius said.
As he was leaving the courthouse, Humphries denied trying to launder illegal profits by running money through slot machines.
"I was just merely playing," he said. "I still play. I don't launder money."
A federal grand jury indicted Humphries on charges of exchanging marijuana-smelling cash for clean cash 178 times between May 2006 and March 2009 by using the slot machines.

The total amount of exchanged cash was $1.9 million, for an average of $10,700 every time he visited the casino to make the switch, according to the indictment.
A co-conspirator and admitted marijuana dealer, Patrick Johnson, wore a body wire for agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, court papers said. Johnson secretly recorded Humphries explaining how he was laundering the cash, according to court papers.
Mordue received 26 letters of support from Humphries' friends and relatives, many of them citing his outstanding generosity with needy people in South Carolina. His wife, Lynda Humphries, was among the letter-writers.
"I do not know and for what reason these ugly lies have been said about David," she wrote, using his middle name. "He is the most caring and generous man God ever made."
Johnson and Hank Cook owned a cigarette-making company at Akwesasne. They were paying Humphries in cash for the tobacco he supplied from his farm in South Carolina.
The cash always had a strong scent of marijuana because the cigarette makers were also heavily into selling pot, federal prosecutors said in court papers.
After he was paid in May 2006, Humphries was pulled over by police. A police dog alerted to the marijuana scent on the money, and officers seized the $88,000 in cash Humphries had in his car.
Mordue noted today that Humphries never submitted a claim for that cash -- an indication that Humphries knew it was the illicit profits of drug dealers.
After that, Humphries started exchanging the smelly money for clean cash by putting the bills into slot machines, one by one, at the Mohawk Bingo Palace, prosecutors said.
Humphries wasn't accused of marijuana trafficking. He was accused of laundering money he knew was the proceeds of crimes.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A South Carolina tobacco farmer was sentenced to six years in prison today for trying to conceal the profits of drug dealers by running the money through slot machines at the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Reservation in Northern New York.

U.S. District Judge Norman Mordue imposed the sentence on William D. Humphries, 67, of Lake City, S.C.

A federal jury last year convicted Humphries of 41 counts of money laundering, along with traveling in aid of racketeering, wire fraud conspiracy to defraud Canada of tax revenue, and conspiring to manufacture tobacco products without a license.

The Canadian government lost $40 million in tax revenues that it would have received if the cigarettes hadn't been sold on the black market by the manufacturer Humphries was selling his tobacco to, Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl Eurenius said.

As he was leaving the courthouse, Humphries denied trying to launder illegal profits by running money through slot machines.

"I was just merely playing," he said. "I still play. I don't launder money."

A federal grand jury indicted Humphries on charges of exchanging marijuana-smelling cash for clean cash 178 times between May 2006 and March 2009 by using the slot machines.

The total amount of exchanged cash was $1.9 million, for an average of $10,700 every time he visited the casino to make the switch, according to the indictment.

A co-conspirator and admitted marijuana dealer, Patrick Johnson, wore a body wire for agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, court papers said. Johnson secretly recorded Humphries explaining how he was laundering the cash, according to court papers.

Mordue received 26 letters of support from Humphries' friends and relatives, many of them citing his outstanding generosity with needy people in South Carolina. His wife, Lynda Humphries, was among the letter-writers.

"I do not know and for what reason these ugly lies have been said about David," she wrote, using his middle name. "He is the most caring and generous man God ever made."

Johnson and Hank Cook owned a cigarette-making company at Akwesasne. They were paying Humphries in cash for the tobacco he supplied from his farm in South Carolina.

The cash always had a strong scent of marijuana because the cigarette makers were also heavily into selling pot, federal prosecutors said in court papers.

After he was paid in May 2006, Humphries was pulled over by police. A police dog alerted to the marijuana scent on the money, and officers seized the $88,000 in cash Humphries had in his car.
Mordue noted today that Humphries never submitted a claim for that cash -- an indication that Humphries knew it was the illicit profits of drug dealers.

After that, Humphries started exchanging the smelly money for clean cash by putting the bills into slot machines, one by one, at the Mohawk Bingo Palace, prosecutors said.

Humphries wasn't accused of marijuana trafficking. He was accused of laundering money he knew was the proceeds of crimes.

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