Oregon Businessman Admits to Moving Millions in Cocaine and Hiding Profits in Crypto

Lake Oswego resident, 47-year-old Michael Wayne Frost, pleaded guilty to distributing over 50 kilograms of cocaine and laundering the money to his business cryptocurrency accounts yesterday. He could get a maximum sentence of life in prison.

During a multi-agency investigation that included the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Asset Recovery and Money Laundering Unit at the United States Attorney’s Office, officers running several sting operations made controlled purchases of cocaine from Frost.

While executing a federal search warrant on Frost’s residence in Lake Oswego on July 2, 2024, agents seized a kilogram of cocaine and about $20,000 in cash from the residence. Other cash from cocaine sales had been laundered through Robinhood, a platform he used to invest in cryptocurrency.

A further approximately $509,000 in cash and cryptocurrency tied to Frost’s cocaine sales cash into a business bank account he controlled was later seized on additional warrants. Frost admitted to selling between 10 and 12 kilograms of cocaine per week.

A Portland federal grand jury returned a seven-count indictment charging Frost with distributing cocaine and money laundering on August 21, 2024. Frost pleaded guilty to one count of cocaine distribution and one count of money laundering yesterday and agreed to forfeit all the seized cryptocurrency and cash.

Frost faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison with five years of supervised release, plus a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, plus a $10 million fine. He will be sentenced on January 7, 2026, before a U.S. District Court Judge.