California woman sentenced to nearly 3 years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering

Date: Jan. 29, 2026

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

SIOUX FALLS – United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier has sentenced a San Jacinto, California woman convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering. The sentencing took place on January 26, 2026.

Nicole Dorrough was sentenced to 34 months in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Dorrough was indicted for Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering by a federal grand jury in May 2024. She pleaded guilty on November 10, 2025.

Dorrough was a member of a large drug trafficking organization that was responsible for sending hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine from California to Sioux Falls. The group also trafficked cocaine and marijuana. Dorrough specifically received drug proceeds from co-conspirators in South Dakota through electronic payments like Cash-App or Zelle. Significant amounts of cash were deposited into her bank account during her involvement in the conspiracy. Once she had received the drug proceeds from South Dakota, she would then provide them to a co-conspirator in California. The scheme allowed funds to quickly be transferred from state to state while keeping the name of the main co-conspirator off the transactions. Investigators identified approximately $700,000 of money laundering activity by the group, of which Dorrough was personally involved in transactions totaling approximately $200,000.

“People who launder and move around the dirty money obtained from drug deals are just as culpable as the dealers directly funneling that poison into our neighborhoods and communities,” said U.S. Attorney Parsons.

This case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Sioux Falls Area Drug Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Hodges prosecuted the case.

Dorrough was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 19 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.