North Texas man sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for money laundering

FORT WORTH, Texas — A North Texas man was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge John McBryde to 10 years in federal prison for money laundering.

This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas. This case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

According to plea documents filed in the case, Hao Tran, 37, of Grand Prairie, Texas, purchased a $150,000 cashier’s check using profits from his illegal drug trafficking business which he operated between California and Texas.

Tran, who has been in custody since August 2015 on a related federal criminal complaint, was also ordered to forfeit to the government the property that he acknowledged was traceable to his money-laundering activities. This property included the following: a parcel of land in Grand Prairie; seven vehicles, including a Bentley Continental, two Mercedes Benz, and a Hummer H2; and jewelry and cash.   Tran pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering in November 2015.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Poe, Northern District of Texas, was in charge of the prosecution.