U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Kentucky – Thursday, June 26, 2025
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Today, a Mexican national was sentenced to 100 months in prison for his role in arranging for the collection of drug proceeds in the United States and the repatriation of the proceeds, or their equivalent value, to Mexico as part of a money laundering conspiracy.
According to court documents, Jose Manuel Martinez Gomez, a/k/a Meño, served as a “money broker” in an organization that aided the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) by collecting, laundering, and repatriating drug proceeds generated in the United States to the cartel in Mexico. Martinez personally arranged for the laundering of $5,462,289 that was proceeds of drug trafficking crimes. Martinez used a network of co-conspirators to pick up those drug proceeds all over the United States. After money was delivered in the United States, Mr. Martinez provided instructions for the transfer of those funds via cryptocurrency, including providing a cryptocurrency wallet address, or a bank account. Martinez worked for “commissions,” or a percentage of the money laundered successfully…