Man Convicted of Money Laundering Sentenced to 17-1/2 Years Imprisonment

A man arrested at an airport in northeast Georgia with $1.3 million in cash has been convicted of money laundering and sentenced to 17-1/2 years in prison.^[1]

60-year-old Kevin Felts was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William C. O'Kelley to the prison term after a federal jury convicted Felts of money laundering and weapon charges following a weeklong trial in December.^[2]

Prosecutors stated that Felts, originally from Brazoria, Texas, personally handled close to $7 million in money derived from Mexican drug trafficking.^[3]

Felts was caught with the money when federal drug agents received a tip that a plane was flying into the Gainesville airport to pick up over a million dollars in cash. This arrest occurred in March of 2005.^[4]

Last year, 34-year-old Nora Aguilar, who was found hiding in the plane when Felts was arrested, pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy charges. Aguilar was sentenced to 21 years in prison.^[5]

According to prosecutors, Aguilar stated that she and Felts routinely collected drug proceeds in at least five other U.S. cities and then sent the funds to drug traffickers in Mexico.^[6]

The two men who turned the cash over to Felts were found in a nearby stash house with 17 kilograms of cocaine and $300,000 in cash.^[7]

Under section 18 U.S.C. §1957(a), it is a crime for a person to knowingly engage in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property having a value greater than $10,000 and which is derived from specified unlawful activity. In this case, the specified unlawful activity is engaging in drug trafficking.^[8]

The punishment for a violation of section 1957(a) is a fine, imprisonment for not more than ten years, or both.^[9] The Court can, in its discretion, impose an alternate fine of not more than twice the amount of the criminally derived property involved in the transaction.^[10]

Federal criminal defense attorney, Douglas McNabb has previously written on Money Laundering here.

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[1] The Associated Press, Man, Caught With $1.3 Million at Airport, Sentenced to Prison, The Star-Telegram, March 21, 2008 (available at http://www.star-telegram.com/448/story/541292.html).
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] 18 U.S.C. § 1957(a).
[9] 18 U.S.C. § 1957(b)(1).
[10] 18 U.S.C. § 1957(b)(2).