BOSTON — David Nguyen, 40, of Toronto, Canada, stood before a federal judge today and admitted his role in a cross-border drug and cash smuggling ring that flooded Massachusetts with MDMA and marijuana. Nguyen pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute MDMA and marijuana and one count of money laundering conspiracy in U.S. District Court.
From February 2010 to March 2012, Nguyen and Canadian co-conspirator Gurshuran Singh orchestrated a pipeline that relied on recruited couriers to transport drugs from Canada into the U.S. The narcotics were funneled to Joshua Rabinovitch in Salem, Mass., who distributed them locally and funneled the profits back across the border. The operation moved both MDMA — known on the streets as “ecstasy” or “mollie” — and marijuana with cold precision.
In April 2012, Singh escalated the scheme by sending Adeel Bhutta to pick up $240,000 in drug proceeds from Rabinovitch’s sales in Massachusetts. That cash haul became a critical piece of the prosecution’s money laundering case. Bhutta was sentenced to 28 months in prison in July 2014. Rabinovitch followed, receiving 24 months in February 2015 for his role in both the drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracies.
Nguyen was indicted in January 2014 and arrested in Canada that May. After a two-year legal battle, he was ordered extradited in July 2016 and temporarily surrendered to U.S. authorities in October 2016. His sentencing is now set for December 19, 2016, before U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper, who will weigh the statutory sentencing guidelines and aggravating factors.
Under federal law, the narcotics conspiracy charge carries a minimum mandatory sentence of five years and up to 40 years behind bars, accompanied by a $5 million fine and a minimum of three years of supervised release. The money laundering count allows for up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $500,000 or double the value of the laundered proceeds — whichever is greater. Federal sentences often fall below the maximum, but the stakes remain high.
The case was announced by United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston. The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs assisted in securing Nguyen’s extradition. Prosecution was led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth B. Kosto of the Cybercrime Unit and Timothy E. Moran of the Organized Crime and Gang Unit.
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Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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