TYLER, TX – United States Attorney John M. Bales announced today that CANDIDO PATINO was sentenced for structuring and assisting in structuring transactions with a domestic financial institution in the Eastern District of Texas.

                Patino, 46, pleaded guilty to a violation of 31 U.S.C. § 5324 (structuring) on June 1, 2011.  Today, during a hearing before United States Judge Leonard E. Davis, Patino was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment, a fine of $10,000 and a term of supervised release of 2 years.

                Financial institutions are required to file a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) with the Internal Revenue Service when a customer conducts a currency transaction (i.e., a deposit or withdrawal) in excess of $10,000.  Making cash deposits or withdrawals in amounts or in a manner to cause the financial institution to fail to file a CTR is referred to as "structuring" and is prohibited by federal law.  According to information presented in court, PATINO operated a money transmitting business out of a restaurant he owned in Kilgore, Texas.  Individuals who wanted to transfer funds to Mexico typically paid cash to PATINO for such services.  Patino then deposited the currency into a bank account at a federally-insured credit union.  Between July 2008 and October 2009, Patino, who was aware of the credit union's reporting obligation, made over 300 structured cash deposits in a manner intended to evade the CTR requirement.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Coan.

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