RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A shell company registered in the name of a Henrico County drug kingpin gave one political donation before the man behind the company was convicted: a $5,000 contribution to a Richmond councilwoman’s campaign.
Nikike N. Tyler received a 23-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to trafficking pounds of heroin, cocaine and marijuana and laundering the money his drug enterprise made through shell businesses he opened.
One of the businesses, Beloved Produce LLC, contributed to the campaign of 8th District Councilwoman Reva Trammell in 2020, according to state campaign finance records.
Data from the Virginia Public Access Project shows that the contribution, which came on July 28, 2020, was the only political donation the shell company made. Records also show that the $5,000 donation was one of the largest contributions Trammell’s campaign received.
Axios first reported that Trammell received a donation from Beloved Produce LLC.
Trammell did not respond to requests for comment for this story, but told Axios in a text that she has “received hundreds of donations every four years” for her re-election bids and that “a donation from a produce company years ago was typical of lots of donations.”
Court records show that Tyler pled guilty to conducting a continuing criminal enterprise, known as the “kingpin statute,” drug and money laundering charges.
Henrico Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Susan Parrish, the prosecutor in Tyler’s case, confirmed Wednesday that authorities searched the warehouse located at the address registered for Beloved Produce LLC on Sept. 2, 2021. Police seized kilo presses used to package narcotics and pounds of marijuana from the warehouse, but “didn’t find fruit,” Parrish told 8News.
Parrish said investigators found no evidence indicating that any elected official was involved or aware of Tyler’s criminal enterprise, which she said involved Mexican and Russian sources.
