Source: United States Attorneys General
Headline: Mexican National Sentenced to 71-Months in Federal Prison for His Role in Conspiring in the Distribution of Almost 22 Kilograms of Cocaine and Funneling Drug Proceeds to Mexico
Donald S. Boyce, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced that Ricardo Peral-Lopez, a 43-year old Mexican national, was sentenced Friday by United States Chief District Judge Michael J. Reagan to 71 months in federal prison for one count of conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of money laundering conspiracy to run concurrently, three years of supervised release to follow the imprisonment, a $250 fine on each count, and a $100 special assessment fee for each count.
Facts revealed in open court at the sentencing and on the record revealed that Peral-Lopez facilitated in the distribution of almost 22 kilograms of cocaine, used his bank account and others’ to funnel drug proceeds back to Arizona and eventually to Mexico, personally drove drug proceeds across the border into Mexico, and paid for the insurance of a vehicle holding 6 kilograms of cocaine later transported from Arizona to Belleville, Illinois and South Carolina. At sentencing, Chief Judge Reagan commented that the offense involved a “substantial” amount of cocaine having a street value of over $600,000. In sentencing Peral-Lopez to 71-months of imprisonment on each count to run concurrently, three years of supervised release, a $500 fine and $200 in special assessment fees, Chief Judge Reagan indicated that this sentence reflects the seriousness of the
offense and deters others from committing similar crimes.
Evidence in support of this prosecution was obtained in an investigation conducted under the auspices of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). The OCDETF initiative is designed to bring federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and resources together to identify, target and dismantle large national and international drug trafficking organizations. Agencies participating in this case include the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, the Illinois State Police, and Fontana, California Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Monica A. Stump prosecuted this case.