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November 22, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Another Saunders’ Co-Conspirator Sentenced

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA - Another co-conspirator of Robert “R.J.” Saunders was sentenced in United States District Court in Wheeling on November 15, 2010, by Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr.

United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced that: JENNIFER SORG, was sentenced to 21 months imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release. SORG entered a plea of guilty on July 6, 2010, to one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments by conducting financial transactions with the proceeds of her unlawful activity, that is the distribution of cocaine and marijuana, knowing the property involved in the financial transaction represented the proceeds of the unlawful activity. SORG and her co-defendant Stacey Minter conducted multiple financial transactions beginning in December of 2005 up through November of 2006, by laundering checks made out to “cash” by endorsing and cashing the checks which were payment for the purchase of drugs. SORG conducted multiple such financial transactions beginning in July, 2006, up through November, 2006, with checks for as much as $2,800 for a total of $15,600. Minter conducted multiple such financial transactions beginning in December, 2005, up through September, 2006, with checks for as much as $2,500 for a total of $21,000. In addition to the laundering of the checks, SORG also assisted in concealing the obtaining of a motor vehicle with drug proceeds. To conceal the true ownership of a 2002 Cadillac Escalade purchased from Bob Robinson Chevrolet-Cadillac on August 8, 2005, for $30,000, SORG and another individual executed all the necessary documents including purchase agreement and financial documents to make it appear that they were the owners of the vehicle rather than the individual purchasing the same. Payments for the car, both the down payment and monthly payments came, at least in part from drug sales NEWS RELEASE

of cocaine and marijuana. The investigation revealed SORG was aware the source of the funds was from cocaine and marijuana sales. As part of the plea agreement, SORG admitted that her laundering activities resulted from the conspiracies sales of 1,200 grams of cocaine and 550 grams of marijuana. Minter also was aware the source of the funds was from cocaine and marijuana sales, and as part of her plea, admitted the checks she laundered were proceeds from the sale of 650 grams of cocaine and 200 grams of marijuana.

SORG, who is free on bond, will self-report to the designated Federal institution on December 30, 2010.

Saunders pled guilty on August 12, 2010, to one count of an Indictment charging him with the conspiracy to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine and a quantity of marijuana from at least January of 2005 to August 28, 2009, in the Northern District of West Virginia and elsewhere. Saunders faces 40 years imprisonment and a fine of $2,000,000, and is scheduled for sentencing on November 30, 2010. The federal investigation into the conspiracy is still active and ongoing.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John C. Parr. The case was investigated by the Ohio Valley Drug & Violent Crime Task Force. The Task Force consists of officers from the Wheeling Police Department, the Ohio County Sheriff’s Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.