NORCROSS, Ga. — Federal officials announced four people were sentenced for the roles they played in a transnational money laundering and drug trafficking organization.
The U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement that two people in the United States illegally and two other convicted felons will spend time in federal for “choosing to poison our community and enrich narco-terrorists abroad.”
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U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg said David Miranda Vinalay, who is in the U.S. illegally, Jerome Lewis, Irvin Joel Hernandez and Sandra Beatriz Hernandez Chilel worked together to get money made from drug sales to Mexico through a Georgia business.
Vinalay and Lewis and Hernandez, both of whom are multi-convicted drug dealers, funneled “bulk cash drug proceeds” to a man in Norcross.
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“Fentanyl continues to devastate communities across our country,” Jae W. Chung, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division, said. “Through strong partnerships and coordinated enforcement efforts, we were able to stop a dangerous operation and disrupt the flow of illegal profits. This case underscores our shared mission to save lives and keep our communities safe.”
The middleman then delivered the money to Hernandez Chilel “at the direction of Mexico-based drug traffickers,” and the funds were then laundered to Mexico through her business, Pulga La Esperanza.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Hernandez Chilel was also in the U.S. without legal authorization, originally from San Marcos, Guatemala.
Hernandez Chilel wired the money to different people in Mexico in small transactions in an attempt to conceal the laundered funds, USDOJ said.
Here are the sentences each received:
- Sandra Beatriz Hernandez Chilel: 5 years, 5 months in prison, then deportation to Guatemala.
- Jermoe Lewis: 15 years in prison, 10 years supervised release
- David Miranda Vinalay: 7 years, 11 months in prison, 1 year of supervised release
- Irving Joel Hernandez: 7 years in prison, 5 years of supervised release
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