A Lake Oswego man has been sentenced to federal prison after being convicted of trafficking cocaine and laundering money through cryptocurrency. Michael Wayne Frost, 47, received a 72-month sentence and five years of supervised release. In addition, he must forfeit over $500,000 in assets linked to the offense, including cash and cryptocurrency.
Court records show that law enforcement conducted several controlled buys of cocaine from Frost. On July 2, 2024, authorities executed a federal search warrant at his Lake Oswego residence, where they found a kilogram of cocaine and approximately $20,000 in cash. Additional warrants later led to the seizure of more than $509,000 in cash and cryptocurrency connected to the drug sales. Investigators determined that Frost deposited some proceeds into a business bank account before transferring funds to Robinhood for cryptocurrency investments as part of the laundering process.
A federal grand jury indicted Frost on August 21, 2024, charging him with distributing cocaine and money laundering across seven counts. He pleaded guilty on September 24, 2025, to possession with intent to distribute cocaine and two counts of money laundering.
The investigation was carried out by multiple agencies: the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, Gresham Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Asset Recovery and Money Laundering Unit at the United States Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kemp Strickland and Christopher Cardani prosecuted the case.
Scott Bradford has served as U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon following roles such as Chief of the White Collar Unit and Acting Chief of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section (https://www.justice.gov/usao-or/staff-profile/meet-united-states-attorney). The office employs 107 staff members (https://www.justice.gov/usao-or), maintains locations in Portland, Eugene and Medford (https://www.justice.gov/usao-or), operates under the Department of Justice as one among 93 offices nationwide (https://www.justice.gov/usao-or), conducts community outreach across Oregon (https://www.justice.gov/usao-or/programs), and aims to foster trust while representing civil and criminal matters in federal court (https://www.justice.gov/usao-or/about-district-oregon).
