San Diego, CA – Luis Reinaldo Ramirez, 32, of Mesa, Arizona, has been sentenced to 120 months in prison for his role as a leader in a transnational money laundering operation that laundered $16.5 million in narcotics proceeds for the Sinaloa Cartel, authorities announced today.
The investigation, which involved the FBI and DEA, resulted in the takedown of the organization and the seizure of more than $1.3 million in illicit assets. Ramirez was also sentenced for his role in an extortion plot.
According to his plea agreement, Ramirez played a key role in the day-to-day operations of the organization, creating a network of incorporated shell companies in Wyoming that were used to launder illicit bulk cash.
He directed and facilitated employees of the money laundering organization to travel to cities throughout the United States to pick up bulk cash belonging to narcotics traffickers, including deliveries in Chicago, Omaha, Boston, New York City, Baltimore, Charlotte, and Philadelphia.
The employees picked up the bulk cash in amounts of up to $200,000 in hotel rooms and parking lots, and the organization laundered the funds through the shell companies and transferred the monies to bank accounts in Mexico.
The FBI’s investigation also resulted in the seizure of $197,430 in bulk cash and a Volvo tractor-trailer that was purchased with drug money, as well as the rescue of two victims who were being extorted by the money laundering organization in February 2021.
Several of Ramirez’s co-defendants have already been sentenced, including Cristian Amaya Nava, 60 months; Christian Cruz Polanco, 30 months; Sugey Caro Salazar, 48 months; and Idsel Valenzuela, Cheliann Rivera Vazquez and Kimberly Reyes to probationary sentences.
Additional co-defendants are scheduled to be sentenced in the coming months, and three of Ramirez’s indicted co-defendants remain fugitives in Mexico, including Enrique Esparragoza Rosas, the alleged former Mexico-based leader of the organization.
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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