Joshua S. Levy, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts
A Virginia man has been sentenced for his involvement in a drug smuggling and money laundering conspiracy. Kenneth J. Owen, 24, from Charlotte Court House, Va., received a sentence of 21 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. The sentencing was delivered by U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV after Owen pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy to distribute MDMA and buprenorphine and money laundering.
Owen's activities involved conspiring with Sathtra Em from Lowell and Michael Mao, an inmate at Buckingham Correctional Center in Dillwyn, Va., where Owen worked as a correctional officer. Between December 2019 and January 2020, the group smuggled drugs into the prison. Em mailed the substances to Owen's residence and paid him $1,600 in bribes to deliver them to Mao, who then sold them within the facility.
Em managed the financial transactions using Cash App accounts for both paying bribes and collecting drug debts on behalf of Mao. Owen used a Cash App account under the name "Carlos" to receive payments from Em.
Both Em and Mao have previously pleaded guilty to their roles in this scheme. In August 2024, Em was sentenced to 21 months in prison with three years of supervised release. Mao received a sentence of 121 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release in November 2024.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Leah B. Foley alongside Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division. Assistance came from various agencies including the Drug Enforcement Administration and IRS Criminal Investigations.
This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation aimed at dismantling high-level criminal organizations threatening the United States through a collaborative multi-agency approach.
