Three Tennessee men and two used vehicle businesses in Memphis have been indicted on money laundering charges for allegedly knowingly selling nearly $3 million in cars to drug traffickers between May 2005 and August 2011.
Those charged are: Wayne McAlpin, Jr., 49, of Memphis; Brian Bowman, 45, of Lakeland; James Austin, 60, of Memphis; Pyramid Used Car Sales; and Budget Auto Sales.
The businesses, which were run by McAlpin, Bowman and Austin, accepted cash as payment for a number of vehicles sold to drug traffickers despite knowing they had previously had vehicles seized by law enforcement for transporting and concealing illegal drugs, the indictment filed in federal court on Tuesday states.
The indictment also states that the defendants helped the drug traffickers title the vehicles they purchased in the names of third parties to hide the transactions from law enforcement authorities.
It adds that McAlpin included false information in an Internal Revenue Service Form 8300,
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