DEA Archived Press Releases

Press Releases before January 20, 2025
20 Results - Showing 1 to 10
PRESS RELEASE

Oakland Money Services Business Owner Sentenced to One Year in Prison for Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering

OAKLAND, Calif. – Jose Luis Garcia, the co-owner of Envios Express, a money transmitting business in Oakland, was sentenced this week to 12 months in federal prison. The Honorable Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr., United States District Judge, handed down the sentence on Jan. 15, 2025. Garcia, 57, of Oakland, was...
PRESS RELEASE

Winter Haven Woman Indicted for Fraud in Using Drug Proceeds to Purchase Home

Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return of an indictment charging Rose Esquilin Rios (34, Winter Haven) with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. If convicted, Esquilin Rios faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison. The indictment also notifies Esquilin Rios that the...
PRESS RELEASE

Drug Trafficker Sentenced to 46 Months in Prison for Fentanyl Distribution and Money Laundering

OAKLAND, Calif. – Christian Grajeda-Varela, a Honduran national who pleaded guilty to fentanyl trafficking and money laundering, was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison. The sentence was handed down by the Hon. Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr., United States District Judge. Grajeda-Varela, 25, was charged by indictment on Aug. 2...
PRESS RELEASE

Twelve Individuals in Central Florida, Puerto Rico, and South Carolina Charged with Murder, Drug Trafficking, Money Laundering, Firearms Offenses, and Fraud

Tampa, FL – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return of four indictments charging a total of 12 individuals with murder in furtherance of drug trafficking, conspiracy to commit drug trafficking, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, illegal possession of firearms, and bank fraud...
PRESS RELEASE

Australian National Pleads Guilty to Participating in Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering Conspiracy

MIAMI – On July 29, Jordan Curry, 42, an Australian national from Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), pled guilty to participating in a conspiracy to launder money and import cocaine from South America through the United States to Australia. According to the agreed upon factual proffer, from 2019 to 2021...
PRESS RELEASE

Former BVI Premier Sentenced to Prison for Conspiring to Import Cocaine into the U.S.

MIAMI – Former British Virgin Islands (BVI) Premier Andrew Alturo Fahie was sentenced yesterday to 135 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams after having been convicted at trial of cocaine trafficking and money laundering conspiracies for agreeing to facilitate the safe passage of tons of...
PRESS RELEASE

Former Venezuelan Military Official Sentenced for Money Laundering and Bribery Scheme

MIAMI—A former officer in the Venezuelan National Guard was sentenced today to one year and one day in prison for participating in a money laundering scheme that involved bribes to foreign officials and defrauding foreign financial institutions. According to court documents, Nepmar Jesus Escalona Enriquez, 47, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla...
PRESS RELEASE

Owner of Oakland Money Services Business Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Laundering Drug Proceeds to Mexico

OAKLAND, Calif. – Felipe de Jesus Ornelas Mora, the owner of Rincon Musical, a money transmitting business in Oakland, was sentenced today to 18 months in federal prison following his conviction for conspiracy to commit money laundering, announced First Assistant United States Attorney Patrick D. Robbins; IRS Criminal Investigation (CI)...
PRESS RELEASE

Former Employee of San Francisco Money Services Business Charged with Conspiring to Launder Drug Proceeds

SAN FRANCISCO – The United States Attorney’s Office has charged Yessenia Margarita Barrientos-Lainez—a former employee of a money services business in the Tenderloin district—with conspiring to launder drug proceeds by wiring large sums of money abroad for a known drug trafficker in the San Francisco Bay Area, announced United States...
PRESS RELEASE

Tampa Couple Sentenced in Multimillion Dollar Money Laundering Scheme

TAMPA, Fla. – U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven sentenced Virginia Garcia Moreta (35, Tampa) and Hector Rodriguez Mendez (47, Tampa) to 70 and 63 months in federal prison, respectively, for conspiring to commit money laundering. As part of their sentences, the court also entered an order of forfeiture in...