LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — 3/3/25 – A major drug trafficking operation that funneled meth, cocaine and fentanyl from California to Louisville through the U.S. Postal Service was dismantled by federal authorities.
According to an undercover by the Internal Revenue Service, following the money led investigators to Teyrin Johnson, a California man who has now been sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison for meth trafficking and money laundering.
“We know that Mexican cartels are huge,” said Kyle Brice, assistant special agent in charge for the Cincinnati Field Office of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, which includes Louisville. “So part of what we do is follow that money trying to make its way back to those organizations.”
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Kentucky
Louisville, KY – A Los Angeles, California, man was sentenced yesterday to 5 years and 10 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and money laundering.
U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky, Special Agent in Charge Jim Scott of the DEA Louisville Field Division, Special Agent in Charge Karen Wingerd, of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations Cincinnati Field Office, U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge Lesley Allison, of the USPIS Pittsburgh Division, Chief Paul Humphrey of the Louisville Metro Police Department, Commissioner Phillip Burnett, Jr. of the Kentucky State Police, Sheriff John E. Aubrey of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and Chief Josh Grimes of the Louisville Regional Airport Authority Department of Public Safety made the announcement.
According to court documents, Teyrin Johnson, 30, was sentenced to 5 years and 10 months in federal prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release. Johnson had been charged following a multi-agency investigation that identified him as part of a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Louisville, Kentucky between June 16, 2020, and March 4, 2021. The investigation also revealed that Johnson laundered drug proceeds on August 10, 2020, when he was stopped at the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport carrying $80,160 in cash.
There is no parole in the federal system.
The case was investigated by the DEA Louisville Field Division, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations Division, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Louisville Metro Police Department, the Kentucky State Police, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, and the Louisville Regional Airport Authority Department of Public Safety.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Bonar prosecuted the case.
