Hyattsville man gets 63 months in federal money laundering scheme

A Hyattsville man will spend 63 months in federal prison after prosecutors said he helped move fraud money through a laundering network that reached beyond one neighborhood and touched public and private institutions across the region.

Victor Killen, 33, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Maddox and was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release. The court ordered him to pay $7,070,656.46 in restitution and imposed a separate $3 million forfeiture order, underscoring the scale of the losses tied to the case.

Prosecutors said Killen pleaded guilty in December 2025 and admitted that at least $3 million in money laundering went through his direct participation. The conspiracy ran from 2021 into February 2024 and, according to federal authorities, relied on limited liability companies used as shell entities, bank accounts opened in those company names, and layered transfers designed to obscure where the money came from and who controlled it. Encrypted communications were also part of the operation, prosecutors said.

The victim pool was wide. Federal filings said the fraud and laundering scheme reached an environmental trust, an urban redevelopment program, a medical center, a transportation and logistics company, a school district, a college and a county government. For Prince George’s County, the case is a reminder that a resident can be tied to a federal financial crime that cuts through institutions far beyond a single zip code.

The sentencing was part of a broader case that federal agents moved on in February 2024, when they arrested 10 defendants and executed three search warrants in connection with what prosecutors said involved more than $9.5 million in fraud proceeds. The U.S. Attorney’s Office later said 14 defendants were charged, 13 pleaded guilty and one defendant, Faizou Gnora, remained a fugitive.

Authorities said the investigation involved Homeland Security Investigations, IRS Criminal Investigation and the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General. In the same case, Yahya “Cash” Sowe of Silver Spring admitted he helped facilitate more than $11 million in money laundering and personally obtained at least $1 million, while Areal Harris of Hanover was sentenced on April 22 to two years in prison and ordered to pay $3,159,482.83 in restitution. The case now stands as one of Maryland’s most sweeping recent federal money laundering prosecutions.