Springfield Man Pleads Guilty to Cocaine Trafficking and Money Laundering Conspiracies

BOSTON – A Springfield man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Springfield to conspiring to traffic cocaine and launder money.

Miguel Betancourt, 53, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni scheduled sentencing for Dec. 8, 2021.

Betancourt was indicted in November 2017 as part of a 14-month wiretap investigation into a large-scale drug trafficking organization supplied by sources in Mexico and spanning at least four states.

At the plea hearing, Betancourt admitted that, in 2016, he knowingly purchased five kilograms of cocaine, which he intended to distribute to others. Betancourt then used his auto dealership, State Line Auto Sales in Enfield, Conn., to launder some of the drug proceeds by providing two vehicles registered in another individual’s name to the source from whom he purchased the cocaine as well as wiring $9,500 to a co-conspirator in Mexico.

The charge of conspiracy to distribute cocaine provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a minimum three years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. The charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $500,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; Ramsey E. Covington, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston; and Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement. Special assistance was provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Carlsbad (Calif.) Resident Office and the Westfield Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Neil L. Desroches and Steven H. Breslow of Mendell’s Springfield Branch Office prosecuted the case.

The operation was conducted by a multi-agency task force through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply. More information on the OCDETF program is available here: https://www.justice.gov/ocdetf/about-ocdetf.