U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced Joseph Farace, age 72, of Sparks, Maryland today to 19 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, for a money laundering conspiracy.  On January 5, 2023, Judge Griggsby sentenced his son, Ryan Farace, age 38, of Reisterstown, Maryland, a previously convicted felon, to 54 months in federal prison for the same charge. 

According to their guilty pleas and other court documents, in November 2018, Ryan Farace was convicted in U.S. District Court in Maryland for a scheme to manufacture and distribute alprazolam tablets (sold under the brand name “Xanax”) in exchange for Bitcoin through sales on darknet marketplaces.  Cryptocurrency tracing techniques established that, in all, wallets associated with R. Farace, and/or his vendor name “XANAXMAN,” received over 9,138 Bitcoins from addresses associated with darknet marketplaces. 

As detailed in their plea agreements, R. Farace (while incarcerated) and J. Farace used email and phone calls to discuss the transfer of bitcoin using coded language.  In September 2020, J. Farace completed the transfer of over 2,874 Bitcoin to the third party, all of which were proceeds of R. Farace’s 2018 drug crimes. On February 10, 2021, federal agents seized all of the 2,874.90419597 Bitcoin that J. Farace had transferred, the market value of which was between $65 million and $150 million at the time of seizure.  On May 11, 2021, the government seized 58.742155166 Bitcoin that was also proceeds of R. Farace’s drug trafficking.  Both R. Farace and J. Farace must forfeit all of the Bitcoin seized during the investigation.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron and Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri commended the DEA, the IRS-CI, the Baltimore County, Howard County, and Anne Arundel County Police Departments, the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, the Washington County Narcotics Task Force, the Havre de Grace Police Department for their work in the investigation and thanked the United States Postal Inspection Service, Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services and the Federal Bureau of Prisons for their assistance.

For more on this article: PRESS RELEASE Father and Son Sentenced for Laundering Drug Trafficking Bitcoin Proceeds Intended for Federal Forfeiture