WASHINGTON - A California man was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in a money laundering scheme involving marijuana sales in Maryland, according to prosecutors.
What we know:
Nicholas Parks, 54, of Winnetka, California, was also ordered to serve one year of probation and ordered to pay back the $329,071 that he and a co-conspirator laundered between October 2020 and January 2021.
According to court officials, Parks pleaded guilty to charges in April 2026. He admitted to participating in the scheme to launder money that he and his associates got through selling marijuana. Court documents show that a female co-conspirator transported the marijuana from California to Maryland by commercial flight.
Parks traveled separately and sold the marijuana with his con-conspirators after they arrived in Maryland, according to court documents.
When they finished distributing the drugs, court documents show that one of the suspects used multiple methods to launder the funds; either driving the money across the country to California or giving the money to a laundering contact in Maryland. The contact would then move the money through financial institutions.
Law enforcement identified several occasions where the co-conspirators laundered money from marijuana sales. Officials then used evidence, including money from controlled pick-ups, text messages between the co-conspirators, and recorded calls, to link the suspects to the scheme.
On Oct. 15, 2020, Texas Highway Patrol conducted a traffic stop on one of the suspects in Carson County, Texas. During the stop, officers recovered $109,071 and seized the suspect’s phone, court documents show.
A search of the phone revealed long messages between Parks and the suspects, showing Parks’ involvement in the money laundering and drug trafficking scheme, according to court documents.
The messages included details about drug sales and the money owed to each co-conspirator for their participation. A more recent message showed that Parks provided one of the suspects with money to take from Maryland back to California. Another message revealed the suspect was supposed to drop off some money at a location in Oklahoma.
According to court documents, the amount of money found in the suspect’s car during the Texas search was consistent with the amount that was bound for California and the money the suspect was paid for their services.
The suspect later confirmed that the money found in his car was from a marijuana trafficking scheme. He also admitted he was driving the money back to California and was supposed to make a drop in Oklahoma, court officials said.
Between December 2020 and January 2021, law enforcement officials conducted three controlled pick-ups where a suspect unknowingly provided $220,000 in drug proceeds to confidential informants.
The Source: This information is from the U.S. Attorney for Maryland.