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New York Flight Attendant Arrested for Smuggling Money to Dominican Republic
Sarah Valerio Pujols, a 42-year-old flight attendant from the Bronx, New York, has pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmission business, in connection with smuggling drug money to the Dominican Republic. This is according to a guilty plea entered by Pujols on July 23, 2024, before U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald.
According to the allegations, Pujols abused her privileges as a flight attendant to move money for drug traffickers. She was employed by an international airline that operated routes between New York City and the Dominican Republic. Pujols had ‘Known Crewmember’ status with the Transportation Security Administration, which allowed her to pass through a special security lane at John F. Kennedy International Airport with less scrutiny than normal passengers.
Pujols accepted bulk cash from a cooperating witness in New York City, got it past airport security, and passed it off to other members of the witness’s organization in the Dominican Republic. After the witness began cooperating with law enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations and the New York City Police Department orchestrated a number of sting operations in which the witness provided law enforcement funds represented to be narcotics proceeds to Pujols, who then smuggled it down to the Dominican Republic and handed it off to another cooperating witness.
Pujols will be sentenced by Judge Buchwald on November 14, 2024, and faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. As part of her guilty plea, Pujols agreed to forfeit property involved in her commission of the offense.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York praised the investigative work of Homeland Security Investigations and the New York City Police Department. The case is being handled by the Office’s Illicit Finance and Money Laundering Unit.
Three other flight attendants, Charlie Hernandez, Emmanuel Torres, and Jarol Fabio, have also pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmission business in connection with the smuggling of drug money to the Dominican Republic. Hernandez, 42, of West New York, New Jersey, pleaded guilty on July 25, 2024; Torres, 34, of Brooklyn, New York, pleaded guilty on August 12, 2024; and Fabio, 35, of New York, New York, pleaded guilty on August 13, 2024. All four defendants will face sentencing in the coming months.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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