MONEY LAUNDERER WITH $1.88 MILLION IN NARCOTICS PROCEEDS SENTENCED TO 9 YEARS IN PRISON

                PHOENIX – On March 26, 2012, Francisco Javier , 42, of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, was sentenced by U.S. District Chief Judge Roslyn O. Silver to nine years in federal prison. Sanchez-Torres pleaded guilty on Sept. 29, 2011, to Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering.

                 Sanchez-Torres was one of three men charged in the case, who conspired together and with others to distribute large quantities of cocaine to customers in the United States and then collect the narcotics proceeds from their U.S.-based customers to be returned to Mexico. Sanchez-Torres was also responsible for coordinating the transportation of the narcotics proceeds from the New York area to Phoenix, via a semi-truck driver. The narcotics proceeds were then brought to the drug organization’s stash house to be counted, repackaged, and transported to the cocaine source of supply in Mexico. Sanchez-Torres was arrested on Nov. 11, 2010, at the drug trafficking organization’s stash house in Avondale, Ariz. Agents seized $1,881,190.00 in U.S. currency from the residence, along with a money counter, during the execution of a federal search warrant.     

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Mesa Police Department, Tempe Police Department, Arizona Department of Public Safety, Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, and Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office. The prosecution is being handled by Jonell L. Lucca, Assistant United States Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.

CASE NUMBER:           CR-10-1649-003-PHX-ROS        
RELEASE NUMBER:   2012-074(Sanchez-Torres)

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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/