Liverpool Business Owner Sentenced to 60 Months for Money Laundering and Maintaining Drug-Involved Premises

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Jayesh Patel, age 49, of Liverpool, New York, was sentenced yesterday to  60 months in prison and a 3-year term of supervised release for engaging in money laundering and maintaining a drug-involved premises, announced United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Jonathan D. Larsen, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), New York Field Division.  As part of a related civil forfeiture case, Patel agreed to forfeit $931,588.06 in drug proceeds that were seized in cash during search warrants and from bank accounts. Additionally, Patel forfeited 5,150 shares of Solvay Bank stock worth over $200,000.00.

In sentencing the defendant, United States District Judge David N. Hurd said that Patel “became wealthy by exploiting his customers’ addictions.”  Patel, co-owner of Munchies convenience store in Solvay, New York, and the Econo Lodge Inn and Suites located near the Syracuse airport, admitted that he sold crack cocaine on a daily basis to drug customers from inside these two businesses.  As part of his guilty plea, Patel admitted that he sold crack cocaine to two police informants working with the Syracuse Police Department on 14 separate occasions from inside Munchies.  Patel also admitted to laundering drug proceeds utilizing his business account at Solvay Bank. 

Law enforcement officers executed search warrants at Munchies, the Econo Lodge, and Patel’s residence and truck, from which were seized large amounts of U.S. currency. Stock and funds held in bank accounts were also seized by IRS-CI.  In total, Patel forfeited over $1 million dollars in drug proceeds. 

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), the Syracuse Police Department-Special Investigation Division, and the United States Department of Agriculture-Office of Inspector General. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tamara Thomson and Michael Perry, with assistance from the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office.