Related Federal Cases
- Aaron Peila, Oxycodone Distribution and Money Laundering, Utah 2023 · Utah
- Michael Stickler, Theft of Federal Grant Money, Nevada 2015 · Idaho
- Timothy G. Fisher, Money Laundering, California 2024 · Florida
- Tyrone Davis, Loaded Firearm and Cocaine Trafficking, Nevada 2024 · Washington
- Saul Cisneros, Methamphetamine Distribution, Nevada 2023 · Colorado
Las Vegas Men Sentenced to Prison for Cocaine Distribution and Money Laundering Conspiracy
WASHINGTON – Two Las Vegas men, Jose Lopez-Buelna, 51, and Erik Dushawn Webster, 47, were sentenced to 20 and 25 years in prison respectively for their roles in an international cocaine distribution and money laundering conspiracy.
U.S. District Judge Gloria M. Navarro handed down the sentences on February 18, 2011. Lopez-Buelna was also sentenced to five years of supervised release. Webster was convicted by a federal jury on the same date of conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and conspiracy to launder money.
The court found that the drug distribution conspiracy in this case involved 150 kilograms or more of cocaine. According to court documents and trial testimony, Lopez-Buelna and co-defendant Jesus Gastelum recruited various individuals, including Webster and others, to drive motor homes outfitted with sophisticated, lead-lined, hidden compartments throughout the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The hidden compartments were used to store large amounts of cocaine and drug proceeds.
The motor home drivers then transported these proceeds from the cocaine distribution back to Mexico. Testimony at trial also indicated that Webster recruited additional motor home drivers to drive a motor home registered in his name across the U.S./Mexico border and back to various destinations in the United States. Gastelum was charged with conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, conspiracy to launder money, money laundering, and other charges. He remains a fugitive in this case.
Another co-defendant, Adolph Vargas, aka “Adolph Vargas Ibarra,” aka “Al,” pleaded guilty in January 2011 to conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and one count of money laundering. Vargas was sentenced in November 2011 to 97 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Marty Woelfle and Margaret Honrath of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section, with substantial assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada.
The court also entered a final forfeiture order in the case against all of the defendants. The forfeiture order included two recreational vehicles, two .38 caliber semi-automatic pistols, various vehicles, and more than $4 million, all of which represented drug proceeds that law enforcement recovered during the course of the investigation of this case.
Key Facts
- State: Nevada
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
ðŸâ€Â’ Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →
MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS
US NewsUS NewsUS NewsUS News