BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – Two people have been sentenced after the Department of Justice said they were involved in crimes involving financial records. This announcement was made on Oct. 21 by the Department of Justice. (DOJ)
According to the DOJ, 44-year-old Merrick Rice of Mullins, and 32-year-old Miranda Aliff from Rock Creek, pleaded guilty to structuring transactions with one or more domestic financial institutions. The DOJ said both admitted that they structured bank deposits of illicit drug proceeds to evade currency transaction reporting requirements.
According to court documents and court statements, beginning in 2019, Rice and Aliff, who were in a romantic relationship, became involved in a conspiracy to distribute marijuana and other controlled substances in and around Mullens. Aliff admitted that Rice got the marijuana in wholesale quantities from Jack Paskin, who caused the marijuana to be shipped to them from different sources in California, Oregon, and elsewhere, the DOJ said.
On March 2, 2020, the DOJ said Rice created ‘She Paints Quite a Lot LLC, a single-member limited liability corporation, and Aliff was listed as the only member of the LLC. On March 3, 2020, Paskin, Rice, and Aliff went to the Beckley branch of domestic financial institution where the DOj said they opened a business bank account in the LLC’s name. The DOJ said Paskin and Aliff were listed as signers on the bank account.
The DOJ said Rice and Aliff admitted that the LLC was not a legitimate business, and both admitted that the LLC was created to transfer the proceeds of the marijuana distribution conspiracy from them to Paskin.
Starting on March 17, 2020 through August 13, 202, Rice, Aliff, and others connected to the conspiracy made cash deposits of less than $10,000 in the LLC’s bank account, the DOJ said. The 27 transactions totaled $228,000, and the DOJ said Rice and Aliff admitted the transactions were designed to avoid currency reporting requirements.
Financial institutions are required to report cash deposits of more than $10,000, and federal law prohibits structuring multiple cash deposits to avoid that requirement.
The DOJ said Rice admitted to helping other people with depositing a total of $54,000 in $9,000 installments on six separate occasions.
Aliff admitted, the DOJ said, that she and Rice purchased 111 U.S. Postal Service money orders totaling $109,000 as part of a way to pay Paskin. The DOJ said Aliff admitted that Rice told her how to make the transactions to avoid triggering U.S. Postal Service reporting requirements.
The DOJ said the money orders were to payable to Paskin or to Akashic Connections, a business created by Paskin.
Paskin pleaded guilty on August 21 to money laundering and is awaiting sentencing.
Rice was sentenced to one year and three months in prison, which will be followed by three years of supervised release.
Aliff was sentenced to five years of federal probation.
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