Bean Town Times

A California woman was sentenced in federal court in Boston for her involvement in a money laundering conspiracy linked to methamphetamine and marijuana distribution. The defendant laundered over $200,000 of her husband’s drug proceeds.

During the investigation, authorities seized over 160 pounds of pure methamphetamine, an AK-47, a Glock with no serial number, two loaded Smith & Wesson handguns, and over 4,200 rounds of ammunition. A marijuana grow operation with hundreds of plants was also dismantled.

Christina Lua, 51, of Santa Rosa, California, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to 12 months and one day in prison followed by one year of supervised release. In April 2024, Lua pleaded guilty to one count of a second superseding indictment charging her with money laundering conspiracy.

Lua was initially charged in a superseding indictment along with four others in September 2021 for money laundering conspiracy. The indictment involved a total of 11 defendants connected to a large-scale drug trafficking conspiracy. Besides the money laundering charges against Lua and four others, the remaining defendants faced controlled substance and firearm offenses.

In October 2020, investigators received information about drug trafficking activities involving a significant methamphetamine supplier in the Boston area. By late 2020, Lua’s husband Reshat Alkayisi was identified as a major methamphetamine trafficker distributing multi-pound quantities throughout New England. Lua assisted Alkayisi by purchasing vehicles with cash from drug proceeds and depositing cash amounts under $10,000 to avoid reporting requirements.

Lua is the third defendant to be sentenced; eight other defendants have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Boston Division; Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's New England Field Division; and Shawn Jenkins, Interim Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Correction made the announcement. Valuable assistance came from multiple local police departments and state police forces across Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alathea Porter and Katherine Ferguson are prosecuting the case.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation aimed at identifying and dismantling high-level criminal organizations threatening the United States through a prosecutor-led approach integrating intelligence from multiple agencies.

Further details on OCDETF can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.