A Rhode Island man pleaded guilty yesterday to his involvement in a sophisticated international money laundering and drug trafficking organization.
Agustin Villa, age 61, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley scheduled sentencing for November 25, 2024.
In May 2023, a federal grand jury in Boston returned a superseding indictment charging 12 individuals from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and California for their alleged involvement in a sophisticated international money laundering and drug trafficking organisation. The network was first detected in greater Boston in 2021.
The leader of the organisation, Jin Hua Zhang, based in Staten Island, New York, and several of his criminal associates were eventually identified. For a fee, Zhang laundered bulk cash for drug dealers and laundered profits from other illegal businesses. In less than one year, Zhang and his organisation laundered at least $25 million worth of drug proceeds and funds from other illegal businesses.
Villa was identified as a courier for a drug trafficking organisation that used Zhang’s group to launder drug money. On May 26, 2022, Villa delivered over $75,000 in cash to a cooperating witness. Those funds were converted to Tether, a type of cryptocurrency, and transferred to Zhang, the organization’s leader, minus a fee. Funds were traced from the Zhang organisation to Hong Kong and elsewhere in China, India, Cambodia, and Brazil, among other locations, and seized cash and cryptocurrency in accounts tied to Zhang at the conclusion of this investigation.
The money laundering conspiracy charge provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $500,000, or twice the amount involved, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes, which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
Zhang pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 15, 2024.
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