A federal judge sentenced Nicholas Parks, 54, of Winnetka, California, to three years in prison on July 27 for his involvement in a cross-country money laundering conspiracy linked to marijuana trafficking. Parks will also serve one year of supervised release and must pay a forfeiture amount of $329,071 after pleading guilty in April.
U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Maddox handed down the sentence after Parks admitted that he and his co-conspirators laundered $329,071 between October 2020 and January 2021 as part of the scheme. U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes for the District of Maryland announced the sentencing with Special Agent in Charge Akil Baldwin from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) – Maryland.
According to court documents, female co-conspirators transported marijuana from California to Maryland via commercial flights while Parks traveled separately before selling the drugs with local associates upon arrival. After distribution, Co-Conspirator 1 either drove cash proceeds back to California or provided them to a Maryland contact who then moved funds through financial institutions using layered transactions.
Law enforcement identified several occasions when proceeds were laundered using controlled money pick-ups and gathered evidence through text messages, recorded calls, and meetings linking those involved to the conspiracy. On October 15, 2020, Texas Highway Patrol recovered about $109,071 during a traffic stop involving Co-Conspirator 1; subsequent searches revealed text exchanges between Parks and Co-Conspirator 1 detailing drug sales ledgers and plans for moving funds across state lines.
Co-Conspirator 1 later confirmed that seized funds were from marijuana sales in Maryland and described transporting money back to California with an intended drop-off in Oklahoma. Between December 2020 and January 2021, HSI agents conducted three controlled pick-ups where confidential informants received roughly $220,000 from Co-Conspirator 1; these funds were deposited into government-controlled accounts before being delivered by undercover agents or cooperating witnesses back into California.
U.S. Attorney Hayes commended HSI’s investigative work along with assistance from Texas Highway Patrol and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Levin for prosecuting the case. The U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland is part of the Department of Justice; it employs over two hundred personnel across civil, criminal, and administrative divisions while serving nearly six million residents throughout Maryland by prosecuting federal crimes and handling civil cases on behalf of the United States, according to its official website.