BOSTON – In a stunning case of money laundering and reentry, Rafael Pascal, a 57-year-old Dominican national, was sentenced to four years in prison by U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV. Pascal will be subject to deportation upon completion of his sentence.
Pascal pleaded guilty to illegal reentry of a deported alien and money laundering conspiracy on July 12, 2019.
According to court documents, Pascal was deported to the Dominican Republic in January 2002. However, he illegally reentered the United States in May 2012 and was subsequently deported in 2013. Pascal again illegally reentered the United States prior to being arrested in May 2018 on state drug charges.
During his arrest, a fingerprint match identified Pascal as a previously deported alien, and he was taken into federal custody and charged in this case.
Pascal participated in a conspiracy to launder money obtained from the sale of controlled substances from approximately March 2017 through at least July 2017. He obtained cash proceeds from drug sales from various individuals and then delivered the money to individuals who were responsible for laundering the money. On one occasion, Pascal picked up and delivered $59,060 to an undercover agent. Pascal also arranged for drug sales proceeds in New York to be picked up and laundered. Pascal was held responsible for the laundering of more than $200,000 in drug proceeds.
This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, and the Massachusetts State Police provided valuable assistance in the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys James E. Arnold and Philip C. Cheng of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts prosecuted the case.
Related Federal Cases
- Carlos Rafael, False Labeling and Fish Identification, Massachusetts · New Hampshire
- Rahim Shafa, International Money Laundering, MA 2024 · New York
- Jimmy Phan, Cell Phone Defraud Scheme, Massachusetts 2024 · New York
- Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha, TelexFree Laundering, MA 2023 · New Hampshire
- Michael Smith, Cocaine Trafficking, Massachusetts 2024 · New York
Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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