United States Drug Enforcement Administration

EUGENE, ORE - .- Noel Nathaniel Yaun, 34, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was sentenced on January 26, 2011, to 37 months in prison for structuring currency transactions. Yaun pled guilty on November 10, 2010, to structuring currency transactions to avoid reporting requirements. He resided in Columbia, South Carolina, when he committed the offense.

The case arose from an investigation into the distribution of marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms. Yaun was identified as a recipient of shipments containing marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms from Michael James Walsh in Eugene. Walsh was a distributor of marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms to people in multiple states. Upon receiving the shipments from Walsh, Yaun sold the marijuana and mushrooms and deposited the proceeds into a bank account controlled by Walsh. He structured the deposits in amounts less than $10,000 to avoid detection by the Internal Revenue (IRS) and other law enforcement officials. Over a 16-month period, Yaun deposited over $494,000 into the account. Walsh was subsequently charged with structuring currency transactions to avoid reporting requirements and money laundering. Walsh pled guilty to those offenses and on April 11, 2010, was sentenced to serve 46 months in prison.

In pleading guilty, Yaun admitted that he structured currency transactions for the purpose of evading financial institution reporting obligations to the IRS. He also admitted that the structured currency was derived from the distribution of marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms as part of a pattern of illegal activity involving more than $100,000 in a 12-month period. In related cases, on January 12, 2011, Suzan Dione of Eugene was sentenced to serve a 24-month term of imprisonment for conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana, psilocybin mushrooms and ecstasy, and for laundering money and structuring currency transactions. She also forfeited two homes and over $30,000 in currency. On December 10, 2010, Fernando Bispo de Jesus pled guilty to laundering money and structuring currency transactions. He is scheduled to be sentenced on February 15, 2011. On April 13, 2010, Mick Peter Strader Miller of Eugene was sentenced to serve a three year term of probation for manufacturing 11.6 kilograms of marijuana.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, IRS Criminal Investigation Division, and the Eugene Police Department.