A Mexican national, Carlos Erick Vazquez Gonzalez, 48, pleaded guilty today for his role in the laundering of approximately $4 million in drug trafficking proceeds in the United States and the return of those proceeds via cryptocurrency to Mexico as part of a money laundering conspiracy.
According to court documents, Vazquez Gonzalez worked with “money brokers” who arranged for the collection of drug profits in cities throughout the United States, which he then laundered and returned through cryptocurrency to Mexico. Vazquez Gonzalez accepted the deposit of approximately $4 million of these narcotic proceeds into a cryptocurrency wallet that he controlled. Vazquez Gonzalez then quickly moved the money to conceal or obfuscate its origins. He also sold the cryptocurrency for U.S. dollars in Mexico and returned the bulk cash to the “money broker” who arranged the pick-up of drug proceeds in the United States. Vazquez Gonzalez received an estimated $40,000 in commission for his participation.
Vazquez Gonzalez pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 17 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Jason Parman for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Special Agent in Charge Jim Scott of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Louisville Field Division made the announcement.
The DEA Lexington Resident Office investigated the case, working closely with the Detroit Field Division and Rocky Mountain Field Division and assisted by DEA offices in Mexico, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Birmingham, Chicago, Cincinnati, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Louisville, Baltimore, Des Moines, Milwaukee, Portland, Columbia, and Rapid City, with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation.
Deputy Chief Elizabeth R. Rabe of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section (MNF) and Deputy Chief Todd Bradbury for the Eastern District of Kentucky are prosecuting the case.
MNF’s mission is to take the profit out of crime, eliminate drug cartels, and protect the U.S. financial system. MNF pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery actions involving: financial facilitators who launder profits for criminals; financial institutions and their officers and employees whose actions threaten the U.S. financial system and financial institutions; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and control of international drug trafficking organizations.
MNF’s Money Laundering and Forfeiture Unit investigates and prosecutes sophisticated money laundering schemes involving financial facilitators, gatekeepers, and other individuals and entities laundering criminal proceeds, and litigates complex civil forfeiture cases to recover assets on behalf of victims.
This prosecution is also part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, HSTF directs the full might of U.S. law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. HSTF utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.
