San Diego, California - Luke Fairfield, a San Diego-based Certified Public Accountant, was sentenced today to 21 months in prison for his role in the criminal enterprise led by former USC football player Owen Hanson – an international drug trafficking, gambling, and money laundering organization known as “ODOG.”
Hanson operated ODOG in the United States, Central and South America, and Australia from 2012 to 2016, trafficking in thousands of kilograms of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, MDMA (also known as “ecstasy”), and other illegal drugs in wholesale and retail quantities. The ODOG enterprise also operated a vast illegal gambling network focused on high-stakes wagers placed on sporting events. To carry out its gambling operation, the ODOG enterprise employed numerous bookies and money runners, and in the event a customer did not pay his gambling debt, the ODOG enterprise employed enforcers to threaten, intimidate, and injure its own customers in order to force compliance.
As Fairfield admitted when pleading guilty in March of 2017, his role in the ODOG enterprise included laundering money, aiding in the creation of shell companies to hide ODOG’s criminal proceeds, and training ODOG money runners on methods and tactics to hide the enterprise’s activities from law enforcement and banks. On one occasion, Fairfield personally transferred proceeds of Hanson’s Australian drug trafficking to the United States using an alias and fake identification. Fairfield also worked with Hanson to track the collection of debts from bookies and gamblers who owed the ODOG enterprise hundreds of thousands of dollars from illegal bookmaking.
Because of this conviction, Fairfield is no longer licensed as a CPA. The defendant, who is free on bond, was ordered to surrender on November 9, 2018.
“Transnational racketeering organizations like Hanson’s are a threat to the safety and security of our communities, and we are committed to prosecuting the corrupt professionals, like Fairfield, who use their specialized skills to help criminal organizations,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Braverman.
“Money laundering is the grease that allows the wheels of Transnational Criminal Organizations to turn,” said John Brown, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the San Diego Field Office. “Today’s sentencing of Fairfield sends a clear message that business professionals who facilitate the finances of these organizations not only risk losing their professional licenses but also face the prospect of time in prison. This conviction would not have been possible without the significant contributions of the Internal Revenue Service and the New South Wales Police Force.”
Fairfield is the last of 22 defendants charged in the case to be sentenced. The case arose out of a joint investigation by FBI, DEA, and the New South Wales (Australia) Police Force in conjunction with the New South Wales Crime Commission. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew P. Young, Benjamin Katz and Mark W. Pletcher are prosecuting the case, with assistance from DOJ’s Office of International Affairs.
DEFENDANTS Case Number 15-CR-2310-WQH
Owen Hanson Age: 34
Luke Fairfield Age: 40
Kenny Hilinski Age: 39
Giovanni Brandolino Age: 42
Daniel Portley-Hanks Age: 70
Jack Rissell Age: 50
Derek Loville Age: 48
Chalie D’Agostino Age: 52
Marlyn Villareal Age: 32
Dylan Anderson Age: 34
Tim Bryan Age: 48
Jim Muse Age: 53
Jeff Bellandi aka “Jazzy” Age: 50
Curtis Chen Age: 33
James Duley Age: 41
Dee Foxx Age: 35
Khalid Petras Age: 55
Rahul Bhagat Age: 31
David Kipper Age: 35
Todd Oldham Age: 32
Daniel Ortega Age: 42
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Racketeering Conspiracy to Conduct RICO Enterprise Affairs, 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d)
Maximum penalty: 20 years in prison, fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss caused by the offense, forfeiture of any property obtained or operated by RICO enterprise, 3 years’ supervised release.
AGENCIES
Federal Bureau of Investigation – San Diego Field Office
U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency
Internal Revenue Service – San Diego
Australian Crime Commission
New South Wales Police Force
New South Wales Crime Commission