A Wakefield resident has been convicted of participating in a money laundering conspiracy connected to drug trafficking. Christiane Fischer, 42, was found guilty by a jury on November 24, 2025, after a six-day trial in Boston federal court. Sentencing is set for March 5, 2026.
Fischer is the owner of PK Motor Cars, a used car dealership in Peabody that also offers repairs and car rentals. Authorities began investigating Phillip Morose, a large-scale drug trafficker dealing counterfeit fentanyl pills, in 2016. Evidence at trial showed that Fischer worked with Morose to launder proceeds from his drug sales through her business.
In August 2016, Fischer made Morose the CEO of PK Motor Cars. After this change, nearly $1 million in cash was deposited into the business’s bank accounts by Morose. Later that year, cashier’s checks from those accounts were used to purchase a house in Lynnfield for Morose. The property was bought under the business’s name to hide both the ownership and the source of funds. Fischer also permitted Morose to use luxury vehicles owned by her company to help promote his drug activities.
Morose was previously sentenced in 2019 to 30 years in prison for drug trafficking and money laundering charges in Florida. In March 2025, he received an additional sentence of 80 months for money laundering in Massachusetts; this term will run concurrently with his earlier sentence.
The conviction carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine up to $500,000 or twice the amount laundered. Actual sentences are determined by federal judges following sentencing guidelines and relevant statutes.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley announced the conviction along with officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF). The case received support from several local police departments and other law enforcement agencies.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alathea E. Porter and K. Nathaniel Yeager are prosecuting the case as part of an initiative under Executive Order 14159 that targets criminal cartels and transnational criminal organizations through interagency cooperation led by Homeland Security Task Force Boston.