LEXINGTON, KY — The U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Kentucky is reporting that: Two men who participated in a far-reaching conspiracy to launder drug proceeds were sentenced on Friday, by Chief U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves. Anthony Scott Cossu, 29, of Olympia, Washington, was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison and ordered to forfeit $204,265.00 in money that was proceeds of drug trafficking. Felipe Martinez, age 25, of Los Angeles, California, was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison and ordered to forfeit $347,828.00 that was drug proceeds.
According to their plea agreements, Cossu and Martinez engaged in a money laundering scheme, with six additional defendants, which included criminal activities in Lexington, Chicago, and elsewhere, during the conspiracy. Cossu was responsible for $765,065.00 in laundered funds, while Martinez was held accountable for $347,828,00. Cossu, Martinez, and others, delivered bulk cash drug proceeds to others for conversion to cryptocurrency and transferred to other conspirators based in Mexico. A total of 26 kilograms of cocaine was also seized during the investigation, as well as 3 firearms.
Cossu and Martinez’s four co-defendants have previously been sentenced for their roles. Carlos Gonzalez received 97 months in prison and three years of supervised release; Rudy Guerrero received 80 months and three years of supervised release; Warren Miller received 24 months and three years of supervised release; and Oscar Alberto Palacios Espericuete received 30 months and three years of supervised release.
Under federal law, Cossu and Martinez must serve 85 percent of their prison sentences. After their release from prison, they will be under supervised release for three years.
Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and J. Todd Scott, Special Agent in Charge, DEA, Louisville Field Division, jointly announced the sentences.
The investigation was conducted by the DEA. The United States was represented in the case by Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Bradbury.
This operation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
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