Virginia Woman Sentenced in Cryptocurrency Money Laundering Conspiracy

TYLER, Texas – A Virginia woman has been sentenced to federal prison for her role in a cryptocurrency money laundering conspiracy in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston.

Lois Boyd, 76, of Amelia Court House, Virginia, pleaded guilty on June 14, 2022, to interstate travel in aid of racketeering enterprises and was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle.

According to information presented in court, Boyd was involved in a transnational money laundering network involved in the laundering of criminal proceeds derived from various fraud schemes.  Boyd and her co-conspirators exchanged criminal proceeds for cryptocurrency and directed the cryptocurrency to wallets under the control of their foreign co-conspirators.  In August 2020, Boyd and her co-conspirators traveled to Longview, Texas, where they attempted to exchange approximately $450,000 in criminal proceeds for Bitcoin.

On June 16, 2021, Boyd was named in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury, charging her with interstate travel in aid of racketeering enterprises and money laundering.

On April 6, 2022, Boyd’s co-conspirator, Deependra Bhusal, 47, of Irving, Texas, was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for his role in the cryptocurrency money laundering conspiracy.

This effort is part of Operation Crypto Runner, an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.  Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

The investigations arising from the operation are being conducted by the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and are being led and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nathaniel C. Kummerfeld and L. Frank Coan, Jr., with assistance from the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and the Department’s Office of International Affairs.