NEW ORLEANS, LA – Viet Nguyen, 30, of Gonzales, Louisiana, is trading Louisiana swamps for federal concrete after being sentenced to one year and one day in prison on May 1, 2024. U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo also slapped him with three years of supervised release and a $500 mandatory special assessment fee. Nguyen previously pleaded guilty to four counts of interstate travel in aid of racketeering (Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 1952(a)(3)) and one count of using a communication facility to facilitate a drug trafficking crime (Title 21, U.S. Code, Section 843(b)).
The case, spearheaded by U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans, unravels a sophisticated drug and money operation stretching from the California coast to the Louisiana bayou. Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office agents began digging in July 2019, uncovering a network masterminded by Vinh Nguyen and others. Texts revealed Vinh Nguyen acted as a broker, negotiating marijuana prices and strains directly with growers in San Francisco.
But Vinh Nguyen didn’t get his hands dirty with the cash. That’s where Viet Nguyen came in. Court documents show Viet Nguyen enlisted others, including the now-convicted Viet Nguyen, to physically fly large sums of money from New Orleans to the California supplier. A separate co-conspirator operated a shipping company, handling the logistics of transporting the marijuana from San Francisco to a warehouse in Kenner, Louisiana.
From there, another accomplice picked up the shipments, distributing the drugs to various, as-yet-unidentified locations across New Orleans and beyond. Viet Nguyen personally made four trips—on April 15, May 7, June 26, and August 15, 2019—flying from New Orleans to California specifically to deliver the drug money, all under the direction of Vinh Nguyen. The operation was a carefully orchestrated pipeline, fueled by cash and ambition.
Federal authorities are framing this prosecution as a significant victory for the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a multi-agency initiative designed to dismantle major drug trafficking organizations. OCDETF pools resources from federal, state, and local law enforcement, targeting regional and national-level cartels and seizing their ill-gotten gains.
The investigation was a joint effort between the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Office of Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant United States Attorney André Jones of the Narcotics Unit is handling the prosecution, signaling a continued commitment to cracking down on drug trafficking and related criminal activity in the region. This case serves as a stark reminder that moving money for drug kingpins carries serious consequences, even for those considered mere foot soldiers.
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Key Facts
- State: Louisiana
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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