California man sentenced in drug trafficking scheme that used phony court documents, fake IDs [The Sacramento Bee]

Sacramento Bee (CA)

A Bay Area man accused of a bizarre drug trafficking and identity theft case that included forging phony federal court documents was sentenced Tuesday in a Sacramento courtroom to seven years in prison.

Quinten Giovanni Moody, 39, who the government says is also known as Christano Rossi, was sentenced after one of his attorneys told U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez that Moody understood the reality of his criminal actions.

"Mr. Moody does understand the seriousness of his offenses," attorney Anthony Brass said. "This is not isolated conduct.

"It's a lifetime of conduct."

Moody, of Dublin, also was ordered to face 48 months of supervised release after his prison time is up.

He and two other defendants were accused of a variety of offenses ranging from marijuana trafficking to identity theft to unemployment insurance fraud.

Moody and "other co-conspirators generated hundreds of thousands of dollars by transporting marijuana from California to Georgia, Nevada, Texas, and other locations," the Justice Department said. "Moody and others bought marijuana in California and then transported the marijuana to distributors in other states via couriers and baggage traveling on commercial airplanes and commercial shipping services.

"Once the marijuana was sold, Moody and others caused the proceeds of the marijuana sales to be returned to them in California by using couriers to travel on commercial airline flights carrying cash, using shipping services to ship cash, and causing others at their direction to deposit cash into bank accounts."

Moody and two others -- former Roseville resident Myra Boleche Minks and Sacramento resident Jessica Tang -- were indicted by a Sacramento federal grand jury last year; charges against the women are pending.

Moody pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to distribute marijuana, aggravated identity theft and obstruction of justice and could have faced a sentence of more than 40 years in prison.

Court records describe elaborate efforts to stay ahead of law enforcement, including allegations that Minks impersonated a Secret Service agent, agents with the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration, federal prosecutors and a Justice Department employee who submitted fake search warrants.

In April 2022, after authorities seized a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro and 1956 Chevrolet pickup truck Moody allegedly purchased using drug proceeds, he hatched a plot to retrieve them from an FBI lockup in Georgia, court records say.

Moody and Minks concocted phony court orders and gave them to a tow truck driver sent to get the vehicles back, the Justice Department says, but the ruse failed.

"This defendant committed felonies involving drugs and identity theft, then doubled down by obstructing justice," U.S. Attorney Phil Talbert said in a statement. "After making hundreds of thousands of dollars distributing marijuana across the country and fraudulently claiming unemployment insurance benefits during the coronavirus pandemic, he used phony court documents in a failed attempt to get the FBI to release property seized during the federal investigation."