CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — A man from the Chicago area has been sentenced to nearly five years in federal prison for his role in laundering money for a drug trafficking organization based in Mexico.
Jose Eladio Medina Valenzuela, 45 from Cicero, Illinois, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Prosecutors say between May and October 2020, he helped transfer over $335,000 from methamphetamine sales in Iowa to individuals in Mexico.
Medina Valenzuela’s sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand. He received 57 months in prison, followed by a two-year supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system…