Reisterstown Man Pleads Guilty To Money Laundering Drug Proceeds

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                              Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                         at (410) 209-4885

Baltimore, Maryland – On March 8, 2018, Stewart Sachs, age 66, of Reisterstown, Maryland, pleaded guilty to money laundering drug proceeds.

The guilty plea was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Don A. Hibbert of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore Division; and Special Agent in Charge Kimberly Lappin of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation.

According to his plea agreement, between November 2011 and February 2013, Sachs agreed to accept a total of $425,000 of narcotics trafficking proceeds.  Mr. Sachs acknowledged that the money was tainted but agreed to sell his real estate, as a front for laundering the drug proceeds.

On four separate occasions, Sachs met with undercover agents and agreed to transfer real estate owned by Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) to the undercover agents or anyone else that the undercover agents wanted and no one would know that the undercover agent owned the properties, in exchange for cash. 

The male undercover agent had represented himself to be a narcotics officer on numerous occasions.  However, Sachs executed the documents to transfer ownership of the LLC to one of the undercover agents. Sachs had one of his employees prepare four checks payable to the undercover agent for $25,000 each.  These checks represented the $100,000 overpayment, which the undercover agent said he needed to appear to be legitimate income.   During the meeting, special agents from the DEA and IRS arrested Mr. Sachs and recovered the $425,000.

Sachs faces a maximum sentence of twenty in prison.  U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis has scheduled sentencing for June 25, 2018 at 2:15 p.m.

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the DEA and IRS-CI for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys James Warwick and Cassie Mathias, who are prosecuting the case.