The Department of Justice has announced the sentencing of a father and son from Monroe, Washington, to five years in prison.
Karren Warren Rhule, 28, and his father, Kenneth John Rule, 47, were charged with allegedly operating an illegal marijuana business and using Bitcoin to launder money.
The Department of Justice charged the pair after an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security and the Drug Enforcement Administration in 2020.
Kenneth Warren Rhule was sentenced to five years for alleged money laundering and conspiring to manufacture and distribute marijuana.
His father, Kenneth John Rule, was sentenced to five years in prison for conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana.
According to the DOJ, Kenneth Warren Rhule agreed to exchange Bitcoin for cash, going so far as to offer advice on using digital currency to hide funds. Rhule exchanged $142,000 worth of Bitcoin for cash with agents who were posing as human traffickers who wanted to launder money.
At the same time, the DOJ says the pair operated an unlicensed product business using cash and cryptocurrency to sell to customers nationwide. The DOJ says that the operation grossed more than $13 million with a net profit of $2.5 million.
