A Las Vegas man was sentenced to eight years in prison plus three years of supervised release for importing, processing and distributing 300 pounds of Tapentadol, a schedule II opioid, as well as money laundering.
According to court documents, Christopher Housley, 51, rented several UPS postal boxes using fake IDs in Las Vegas. Police say they intercepted packages containing Carisoprodol, Tadalafil and Sildenafil in January of 2021.
In July of 2021, Housley obtained an industrial pill press which he used to process the drugs.
They also said that Housley created two shell companies, which wired $116,000 to India, China and Singapore between September 2020 and October 2021. About $350,000 was deposited into the accounts between July 2021 and January 2022.
Documents said that after Housley imported and processed the drugs, he also distributed them throughout the United States.
The DOJ says on May 3, 2022, law enforcement searched a storage unit rented by Housley using a fake name and found Tapentadol, Alprazolam and other controlled substances.
Housley pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and 20 counts of money laundering, and was sentenced on Friday.
