Source: United States Department of Justice News
Defendant laundered drug proceeds on behalf of Lyndon Swarn, a/k/a Lyndon Wiggins
MINNEAPOLIS – A federal grand jury returned an indictment against a Minneapolis woman for running a drug money laundering conspiracy on behalf of a large-scale fentanyl and marijuana dealer, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.
According to court documents, between December 2018 and August 2019, Phouvanh Keokaythinh, 36, knowingly conspired with others to conduct financial transactions that involved the proceeds of fentanyl and marijuana trafficking. As part of the conspiracy, Keokaythinh kept large amounts of cash drug proceeds for Lyndon Swarn, a large-scale fentanyl and marijuana dealer, at her family residence in Bloomington. At any given time, Keokaythinh stashed up to $80,000 at the residence. Swarn’s drug income was generated from the production and sale of illegal fentanyl-laced Oxycodone pills, as well as the production and sale of large amounts of marijuana.
According to court documents, Keokaythinh used cash from Swarn’s drug proceeds to purchase a farm property in Ironwood, Michigan. Swarn and his associates used this property to illegally grow large amounts of marijuana. Keokaythinh and others laundered drug proceeds into a bank account owned by L&S Management LLC, a shell company used for the purchase, maintenance, and upkeep of the property in Ironwood. Keokaythinh also directed others to maintain a credit card that was used for Swarn’s personal spending and other expenses related to the drug trafficking conspiracy. Between January 2017 and March 2019, Keokaythinh and others used drug proceeds to make approximately $117,782.72 in payments on the credit card.
According to court documents, on January 31, 2020, Keokaythinh willfully and knowingly made false statements in an application for a passport. In the application, Keokaythinh falsely claimed that she had lost her passport while on a trip to Los Angeles when, in reality, she knew that her passport had been seized by law enforcement on October 23, 2019, during the execution of a search warrant at the Ironwood property.
Keokaythinh is charged with one count of money laundering conspiracy, one count of concealment money laundering, and one count of false statements in application for a passport. She made her initial appearance in U.S. District Court on October 31, 2022, before Magistrate Judge Tony N. Leung.
On June 2, 2022, Swarn was convicted in Hennepin County of aiding and abetting first-degree murder in relation to the New Year’s Eve 2019 kidnapping and murder of a local real estate agent. On May 17, 2021, Swarn was convicted in U.S. District Court for possession with intent to distribute more than 33,000 fentanyl-laced Oxycodone pills.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Minneapolis Police Department, and the Hopkins Police Department, with assistance from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Harry M. Jacobs is prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.