One of the more serious Drug Crimes that a criminal defendant can face is the criminal charge of Dealing in Proceeds of Unlawful Activities. This crime is one of the most serious Drug Crimes and graded as a felony of the first degree and therefore punishable by up to 20 years in state prison and a $100,000 fine. Although not specifically a drug crime, heroin crimes Dealing in Proceeds of Unlawful Activity is frequently used by the government to prosecute drug dealers who are hoarding cash that they receive from drug transactions. This crime can also be used to prosecute individuals charged with non drug crimes such as theft of services and other theft or burglary crimes so long as they try and conceal or disguise the money that they are getting from the crime.
According to the Drug Crimes statute of Dealing in unlawful proceeds,-A person commits this crime if knowing that the property involved in a financial transaction is from the proceeds of unlawful activity (such as a drug transaction), he conducts a financial transaction which involves the cash or money gained from the unlawful activity:
(1) With the intent Drug Court to promote the carrying on of the unlawful activity (buying more drugs).
(2) Knowing that the transaction is designed:
(i) to conceal or disguise the location, source, ownership of the proceeds of unlawful activity;
So what does it mean under the statute to “conceal” or “disguise” the proceeds of the crime? Generally this means an attempt to hide something from other people. Basically then, if a defendant is selling drugs and receives money as a result of committing this crime, he can be found guilty of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity if he tries to hide the money that he received from committing the crime.
