A Georgia woman has accepted responsibility for her role in a scheme to transport illegal drug money and drugs across state lines. Michelle Alvarado, age 27, entered a guilty plea to charges of money laundering conspiracy and aiding interstate travel for racketeering, as per the announcement made by U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans. The proceedings took place last Wednesday, before United States District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Alvarado and her co-conspirators engaged in trafficking U.S. Currency and narcotics from Louisiana to Mexico on behalf of a Drug Trafficking Organization. These endeavors required Alvarado to frequently travel between New Orleans and other states, a dangerous game of cross-border criminal logistics that unfurled over unknown stretches of time. The repercussions of her actions, now laid bare, might place her for up to twenty years behind bars for the money laundering count, coupled with a potential five-year term for the racketeering charge.
Alvarado's legal challenges are heavily weighted, with the money laundering charge alone carrying the possibility of a $500,000 fine and three years of supervised release. The interstate travel charge could mean a further fine up to $250,000 and an additional period of supervised release. On top of the financial penalties, there's the mandatory special assessment fee of $100 for each count, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The case is a part of a larger initiative by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, which seeks to methodically disassemble the networks that stand to threaten the United States with drugs and crime. The DEA's New Orleans Field Division Office led the investigation with assistance from a coalition of federal and local law enforcement agencies. The prosecution is currently in the hands of Assistant United States Attorney Lynn E. Schiffman, part of the Narcotics Unit.
