Girlfriend of drug kingpin sentenced to over 3 years in prison for money laundering, officials say
DETROIT, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - A delivery of drugs in a Sony PlayStation box led agents to a location in Novi where a drug organization stored more than 30 kilograms of fentanyl and over half a million dollars, the United States Attorney's Office announced Wednesday.
The girlfriend of the organization's California-based leader, who laundered drug money and lived a lavish life from the proceeds, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison, officials said.
Teeauna White, 36, of Moreno Valley, California, was also ordered to forfeit her interest in a laundered home in the U.S.
White conspired with her boyfriend Maurice McCoy to conceal his drug money by setting up multiple businesses and controlling access to bank accounts, officials said.
Members of the drug organization deposited the proceeds into the bank account and delivered hundreds of thousands of dollars in bulk cash to McCoy and White.
According to officials, McCoy and White reaped the benefits of the drug trade and used the money to fund their lifestyle such as purchasing cars, a home, jewelry, and more.
White knew McCoy served 10 years in federal prison for a prior drug trafficking conviction and was a convicted felon when she helped him launder drug money, officials said.
The DEA and IRS led the investigation and found drug distribution hubs in multiple cities across the U.S., including in Novi, where the organization stored more than 30 kilograms of fentanyl and over half a million dollars that the DEA seized.
It was the largest fentanyl seizure in Michigan and one of the largest in the U.S., officials said.
The seizure came from agents investigating and tracing a UPC code from a Sony PlayStation box that was used to deliver heroin to a drug customer, according to officials.
The UPC code led to the Novi condominium where the PlayStation was active.
Agents identified couriers who traveled the U.S. delivering kilograms, transporting bulk currency, or laundering money, leading to multiple arrests and additional seizures in Indianapolis and Baltimore, where the organization also operated, officials said.
Of the 18 defendants charged, only White and Robin Herndon, a relative who she and McCoy used to purchase their home, went to trial.
The remaining defendants, including couriers, large-scale drug customers, and McCoy himself, pleaded guilty, officials said.
A jury convicted White and Herndon in July 2023.
After the verdict, White took to social media to threaten the witnesses who had testified at trial, officials said.
Her bond was immediately revoked, and she spent nearly four months in jail awaiting her sentence.