Biden-Clemency Drug Dealer Arrested in Alleged Money Laundering Scheme

A Texas man whose drug sentence was commuted by then-President Joe Biden in 2025 has been arrested on a federal warrant from Michigan, where he now faces a money laundering charge.

Lakento Brian Smith, 55, a former Muskegon resident who most recently lived in Houston, is charged with one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments to promote felony violations of the Controlled Substances Act, according to a federal criminal complaint prosecutors unsealed Thursday.

Smith’s criminal history includes convictions for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and cocaine base, also known as “crack” cocaine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and being a felon in possession of firearms. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2006.

His sentence was later cut to 30 years in 2019 under the First Step Act, the major criminal justice reform law enacted during the first Trump administration. In January 2025, Biden commuted the sentence without offering a specific explanation, though Smith remained subject to eight years of supervised release.

The latest case centers on an alleged drug trafficking operation tied to another man in Muskegon, according to the complaint.

Investigators allege that in September 2025, law enforcement used a confidential source with a criminal history to ask the unnamed co-defendant about “prices and quantities of cocaine.”

After placing the co-defendant’s home under surveillance, investigators said they observed a person remove “a large duffle bag from the passenger side of [a] semi-truck” and carry it inside with both hands. About 16 minutes later, the same person allegedly came back out “carrying a duffle bag in his right hand and a large bag over his shoulder,” placed both items in the passenger side of the semi-truck, and drove away.

The complaint alleges this bag exchange was actually a drug deal where bulk amounts of the illicit product were exchanged for large quantities of cash. That’s where Smith allegedly enters the picture.

Federal agents allege Smith helped facilitate the drug operation by arranging to move the proceeds out of the Wolverine State.

In March, during a phone call with an undercover DEA agent, Smith allegedly said he was in Texas but that “everything I got going on” is in Michigan, an apparent reference to the drug operation.

After the first agent arranged a bulk cash pickup with Smith, another undercover agent spoke with the man in Michigan and later engaged in two such cash pickups in the parking lot of a Walmart in Muskegon, according to the complaint.

During the first exchange in March, the Michigan man delivered a brown paper bag to the undercover DEA agent containing two vacuum-sealed bundles of cash allegedly totaling $80,000, as well as a lone dollar bill meant to act as something of a calling card for operational security, according to law enforcement. A second exchange in April allegedly involved another $50,000 bundle of cash.

In June, Smith allegedly met with the first undercover agent outside the defendant’s residence in Houston. There, the two discussed the alleged drug operation at length, authorities say. They discussed Smith’s weekly proceeds and his view of the Michigan man, according to the complaint.

“He’s old school,” Smith allegedly said. “He’s got my best interest. I know he really unconditionally loves me.”

Smith also allegedly expressed a preference for working with cocaine over other more dangerous drugs like fentanyl.

“It’s a party drug, the cocaine,” Smith allegedly said. “I really…I want the cocaine more than I want the other s—.”

Prosecutors allege Smith conspired to transport at least $130,000 in “clean” drug money. The complaint also alleges a series of structured cash deposits between the Michigan man and Smith’s wife, which were allegedly used to evade reporting requirements.

The post ‘I want the cocaine more’: Drug dealer granted clemency by Biden arrested for alleged money laundering scheme first appeared on Law & Crime.