Two men involved in a significant drug money laundering conspiracy received their sentences from Chief U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves. Anthony Scott Cossu, 29, from Olympia, Washington, was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison and ordered to forfeit $204,265.00 in drug-related funds. Felipe Martinez, aged 25, from Los Angeles, California, received a 60-month prison sentence and was instructed to forfeit $347,828.00 in drug proceeds.
According to their plea agreements, Cossu and Martinez, along with six others, were part of a money laundering operation that spanned various locations, including Lexington, Chicago, and more. Cossu was responsible for $765,065.00 in laundered funds, while Martinez’s involvement accounted for $347,828.00. They, along with their co-conspirators, transported drug proceeds in cash for conversion into cryptocurrency and transfer to accomplices in Mexico. The investigation also led to the seizure of 26 kilograms of cocaine and three firearms.
Cossu and Martinez’s co-defendants had previously received their sentences: Carlos Gonzalez (97 months in prison), Rudy Guerrero (80 months), Warren Miller (24 months), and Oscar Alberto Palacios Espericuete (30 months), all accompanied by three years of supervised release.
Federal law mandates that Cossu and Martinez serve 85 percent of their prison terms. Upon release, they will be under three years of supervised release.
Carlton S. Shier, IV, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and J. Todd Scott, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Louisville Field Division, jointly announced the sentences.
The DEA conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Bradbury represented the United States in the case. This operation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation, which focuses on identifying and dismantling high-level drug traffickers and money launderers using a collaborative, intelligence-driven approach involving federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
By FCCT Editorial Team
, an independent military force, and allied militias in Sudan raped several dozen women and girls in West Darfur’s capital, El Geneina, and those fleeing to Chad between late April and late June 2023, Human Rights Watch said today. The assailants appear to have targeted people because of their Massalit ethnicity and, in some cases, because they were known activists.){kind=link}