⏱ 2 min read
Sergio Velasco-Cortes, a 42-year-old Mexican citizen, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute cocaine and participating in the buying and selling of stolen vehicles in Cincinnati, Ohio. Velasco-Cortes, who owned bars in Cincinnati and Middletown, was a member of a drug trafficking organization that distributed kilogram shipments of cocaine throughout the Southern District of Ohio. The crimes took place between fall 2024 and spring 2025, with Velasco-Cortes using his bars, Ibiza Restaurant and Lounge and Bar Bunny, to facilitate the drug trafficking activity.
Velasco-Cortes’s guilty plea came after a federal investigation uncovered his involvement in the drug trafficking organization. In December 2024 and January 2025, Velasco-Cortes drove to Indianapolis to buy bulk amounts of narcotics, and in February 2025, a coconspirator delivered drugs to him at Bar Bunny. The investigation also revealed that Velasco-Cortes was connected to a coconspirator who obtained shipments of cocaine from Puerto Rico.
When executing search warrants in March and April 2025, agents discovered seven stolen vehicles at Velasco-Cortes’s residence, with several having falsified VINs. Further investigation showed that Velasco-Cortes and others discussed buying, ‘cleaning,’ and selling stolen cars. Velasco-Cortes and five others were charged federally on April 1, 2025.
Velasco-Cortes faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison. His sentencing will be determined by the Court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors at a future hearing. The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Dominick S. Gerace II, and Special Agent in Charge of the DEA, Joseph O. Dixon.
📋 Key Facts
- Crime: Drug Trafficking
- Defendant: Ohio
- Location: OH
- Source: DOJ Press Release
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