Five Individuals Plead Guilty To International Drug Trafficking And Money Laundering Charges

SAN JUAN, P.R. –Lawrence Anderson Fonseca, Sharon Rodríguez-Rosario, and Terrence Edwards entered guilty pleas in an international drug smuggling case before United States District Court Judge Jay A. García-Gregory. These guilty pleas finalized an international drug trafficking investigation and prosecution by the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico, announced Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. 

Lawrence Anderson Fonseca, a.k.a. “Sinbad,” a British national resident of Tortola; Peter Lev, a Dutch national; Sharon Rodríguez-Rosario, a US citizen resident of Puerto Rico; and Justin Jeremiah Gumbs and Terrence Edwards, US citizens residing in California, were charged on July 16, 2014. The charges were based on their involvement in a conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States through contacts and connections in the British Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic, and St. Thomas; and money laundering to promote this drug smuggling venture. 

Lawrence Fonseca and Terrence Edwards pled guilty to the conspiracy to import 30 kilograms of cocaine into the United States on Monday, August 1^st, 2016, while Justin Jeremiah Gumbs pled guilty to the same count on July 7, 2016.  These defendants are exposed to a term of imprisonment of not less than 10 years and up to life in prison for the drug trafficking conspiracy. These defendants admitted to transferring $45,000 through various means to finance the international drug smuggling venture.

Co-defendants Peter Lev and Sharon Rodríguez-Rosario plead guilty to money laundering to promote a drug trafficking crime on May 23 and August 1, 2016, respectively. These codefendants are exposed to a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years for their money laundering activities. 

Peter Lev admitted to receiving money transfers through Western Union in furtherance of the drug trafficking activities while Sharon Rodríguez-Rosario admitted to receiving a $35,000 swift transfer into her daughter’s bank account in furtherance of the international drug smuggling venture organized by Lawrence Anderson Fonseca, her husband.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Dennise N. Longo Quiñones and Stuart Zander.