BOSTON – A Florida woman was sentenced to 21 months in prison for her role in a sophisticated international money laundering organization that laundered over $6 million in drug trafficking proceeds from Colombian cartels through the United States, Caribbean and European banking systems.
Dawnett McGee, 50, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to 21 months in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release. On Dec. 12, 2024, McGee pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy and three counts of laundering of monetary instruments.
McGee was among 20 individuals from Colombia, Jamaica and Florida who were indicted by a federal grand jury in May 2022 in connection with the money laundering conspiracy.
Over the course of the investigation, $1 million was seized from corporate bank accounts and other investigative activity. Nearly 3,000 kilograms of cocaine – with a street value of over $90 million – was traced back to the money laundering organization. This includes approximately 1,193 kilos of cocaine seized at sea, 60 miles south of Jamaica, in July 2019, as well as 1,555 kilos of cocaine seized in nine scrap metal shipping containers at the Port of Buenaventura, Colombia in March 2019.
In or about October 2016, an investigation began into a sophisticated money laundering organization located primarily in Barranquilla, Colombia. During an extensive five-year investigation, the organization laundered over $6 million in drug proceeds through intermediary banks in the United States, including banks in Massachusetts, as well as additional proceeds through banks in the Caribbean and Europe by use of the Colombian Black Market Peso Exchange (BMPE).
Through the BMPE, Colombian drug trafficking organizations with drug proceeds generated in the United States use third parties – generally referred to as “peso brokers” that are also based in Colombia – who agree to exchange Colombian pesos they control for the drug supplier’s dollar proceeds. Peso brokers then use money couriers in the United States and elsewhere to physically secure the drug proceeds, often in suitcases or bags on the street, and transfer the proceeds into the United States banking system.
The money laundering organization also used multiple small deposits into different bank accounts which are then consolidated into larger accounts to avoid detection. Colombian peso brokers control a pool of drug-derived proceeds in United States bank accounts. These dollar proceeds are then purchased by individuals or companies in Colombia seeking to exchange pesos for United States dollars at a favorable exchange rate and in a manner that avoids currency exchange and income reporting requirements.
BOSTON – Dawnett McGee, 50, was sentenced on Oct. 15, 2025, in federal court in Boston for her involvement in the money laundering conspiracy. McGee pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy and three counts of laundering of monetary instruments on Dec. 12, 2024. The investigation into the money laundering organization began in October 2016 and lasted for five years.
The indictment charges Dawnett McGee with money laundering conspiracy and laundering of monetary instruments. Dawnett McGee was among 20 individuals from Colombia, Jamaica, and Florida who were indicted by a federal grand jury in May 2022 in connection with the money laundering conspiracy.
Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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