United States of America v. Herman James Davis III

Tulsa, OK - Man Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering



The United States of America charged Herman James Davis III with money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1957(a) which provides:



§1957. Engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity



(a) Whoever, in any of the circumstances set forth in subsection (d), knowingly engages or attempts to engage in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property of a value greater than $10,000 and is derived from specified unlawful activity, shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).



(b)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the punishment for an offense under this section is a fine under title 18, United States Code, or imprisonment for not more than ten years or both.



(2) The court may impose an alternate fine to that imposable under paragraph (1) of not more than twice the amount of the criminally derived property involved in the transaction.



(c) In a prosecution for an offense under this section, the Government is not required to prove the defendant knew that the offense from which the criminally derived property was derived was specified unlawful activity.



(d) The circumstances referred to in subsection (a) are—



(1) that the offense under this section takes place in the United States or in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States; or



(2) that the offense under this section takes place outside the United States and such special jurisdiction, but the defendant is a United States person (as defined in section 3077 of this title, but excluding the class described in paragraph (2)(D) of such section).



(e) Violations of this section may be investigated by such components of the Department of Justice as the Attorney General may direct, and by such components of the Department of the Treasury as the Secretary of the Treasury may direct, as appropriate, and, with respect to offenses over which the Department of Homeland Security has jurisdiction, by such components of the Department of Homeland Security as the Secretary of Homeland Security may direct, and, with respect to offenses over which the United States Postal Service has jurisdiction, by the Postal Service. Such authority of the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Postal Service shall be exercised in accordance with an agreement which shall be entered into by the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Postal Service, and the Attorney General.



(f) As used in this section—



(1) the term “monetary transaction” means the deposit, withdrawal, transfer, or exchange, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, of funds or a monetary instrument (as defined in section 1956(c)(5) of this title) by, through, or to a financial institution (as defined in section 1956 of this title), including any transaction that would be a financial transaction under section 1956(c)(4)(B) of this title, but such term does not include any transaction necessary to preserve a person's right to representation as guaranteed by the sixth amendment to the Constitution;



(2) the term “criminally derived property” means any property constituting, or derived from, proceeds obtained from a criminal offense; and



(3) the terms “specified unlawful activity” and “proceeds” shall have the meaning given those terms in section 1956 of this title.



Prosecutor claimed that the money laundering was part of scheme involving illegal synthetic drugs.



The Defendant admitted to depositing a $28,087.50 from a smoke shop into his personal bank account at Arvest Bank. The money was then allegedly used to buy chemicals from China to make the drugs, which were sold through the smoke shop.

Defendant was sentenced to serve 5 years of probation.