Man pleads guilty to laundering $4 million in drug proceeds through crypto

A Mexican national pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder approximately $4 million in drug trafficking proceeds generated in the United States and return them through cryptocurrency to Mexico, the Justice Department announced.

Carlos Erick Vazquez Gonzalez, 48, admitted to working with “money brokers” who arranged for the collection of drug profits in cities across the United States, which he then laundered and returned through cryptocurrency to Mexico, according to court documents. Vazquez Gonzalez accepted approximately $4 million in narcotics proceeds into a cryptocurrency wallet under his control and quickly moved the funds to conceal or obscure their origin, prosecutors said. He later sold the cryptocurrency for U.S. dollars in Mexico and returned the bulk cash to the broker who had arranged the collection of the drug proceeds in the United States. Vazquez Gonzalez received an estimated $40,000 commission for his role, according to court documents.

Vazquez Gonzalez pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 17. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, though a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors, the Justice Department said.

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’s Louisville Field Division announced the plea.

The DEA’s Lexington Resident Office investigated the case, working closely with the agency’s Detroit and Rocky Mountain field divisions and receiving assistance from DEA offices in Mexico and 15 U.S. cities, as well as IRS Criminal Investigation, officials said.

Deputy Chief Elizabeth R. Rabe of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section and Deputy Chief Todd Bradbury for the Eastern District of Kentucky are prosecuting the case.

The section, known as MNF, focuses on stripping profits from crime, eliminating drug cartels and protecting the U.S. financial system, according to the Justice Department. Its work includes pursuing cases involving financial facilitators; financial institutions and their personnel whose conduct threatens the financial system; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the leadership of international drug trafficking organizations. MNF’s Money Laundering and Forfeiture Unit investigates and prosecutes sophisticated money laundering schemes and litigates complex civil forfeiture cases to recover assets on behalf of victims.

The Justice Department said the prosecution is also part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative, established under Executive Order 14159, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion.” The department described the task force as a government-wide partnership aimed at eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking networks operating in the United States and abroad. The initiative places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting child trafficking and other crimes involving children, according to the release.