United States v. Nelson

Kevin Lee Nelson (defendant), a car dealership sales manager, was prosecuted for conspiracy and attempted money laundering after undercover IRS agents told a salesman they wanted to pay $22,000 cash from illegal drug proceeds for a vehicle. Nelson suggested two ways to evade the $10,000 cash-reporting requirement: reporting the sale to the IRS under false buyer names, or splitting the purchase into two separate under-$10,000 transactions later traded in toward the vehicle. Nelson and the salesman disclosed these ideas to superiors, who rejected both schemes before any transaction was completed, and the two men were then arrested. The jury convicted Nelson of both conspiracy and attempted money laundering; the Ninth Circuit affirmed the conspiracy count before turning to the attempt conviction.