California Man Sentenced In Drug Trafficking And Money Laundering Scheme

Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that a California resident was sentenced in federal court in Anchorage for one count of money laundering.

Ines Gutierrez Gaspar, 52, from Little Rock, California, was sentenced by Senior United States District Court Judge H. Russel Holland, to 21 months in prison for his role in conducting financial transactions in California involving funds which he knew to be the proceeds of drug trafficking in Alaska.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph Bottini and Stephan Collins, Gaspar was part of a drug trafficking and money laundering organization which operated between California and Alaska from 2009 until 2011.  Gaspar was originally charged in 2011, along with 14 other co-defendants, in a multi-count indictment charging the defendants with conspiracy, drug trafficking, and money laundering.  Eleven of Gaspar’s original codefendants were previously convicted of drug trafficking and money laundering charges, with some of those defendants receiving sentences of 10 to 11 years.  Many of the earlier sentenced defendants were Mexican nationals, and several have been deported to Mexico following completion of their prison sentences.  Gaspar himself is a Mexican citizen and a lawful permanent resident alien in the United States.  He likewise faces deportation to Mexico following service of his prison sentence.

Gaspar remained a fugitive until last October when he was arrested in Fresno, California.  He was transported to Alaska last November, and in January of this year Gaspar plead guilty to one count of money laundering for actions in withdrawing funds from a bank account in California which he knew to be the proceeds of drug trafficking in Alaska.

Ms. Loeffler commends the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations Division, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Anchorage Police Department for the investigation of this case.