A 43-year-old Eagle Mountain woman has admitted to laundering more than $17 million in drug proceeds through a South Salt Lake storefront that doubled as a neighborhood snack shop. Georgina Espinoza-Grajeda pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, admitting she owned and operated Multiservicios Lokos LLC, the money-transmitting side of a business called Antojitos Lokos.
According to ABC4 Utah, Espinoza-Grajeda and her co-conspirators conducted financial transactions affecting interstate commerce with the intent to promote the distribution of controlled substances. She admitted to receiving cash from drug sales and sending wire transfers through Antojitos Lokos, with the group depositing over $17 million in cash proceeds from drug sales. The Utah District Attorney's Office has identified her as an undocumented immigrant, per that same outlet's reporting.
A Snack Counter Hiding a Cartel Pipeline
The operation was based in a South Salt Lake strip mall at 300 East 3300 South, where Multiservicios Lokos shared a front door and commercial space with Antojitos Lokos, a shop that sold tortas, ice cream, and fresh fruit, according to KSL. Charging documents filed in early 2024 showed that drug proceeds deposited at the storefront were systematically wired directly to narcotics suppliers in Mexico and Honduras, the Department of Justice has said.
Federal court filings from January 2024 identified an employee, Jesid Dadiana De Sutter, as a central co-conspirator alongside Espinoza-Grajeda, accusing her of falsifying wire transfer records at Multiservicios Lokos to evade suspicious activity reporting and conceal drug payments, according to the Department of Justice. How De Sutter's charges have since been resolved is not addressed in court records reviewed for this story.
Years-Long Task Force Investigation
Espinoza-Grajeda was initially indicted by a federal grand jury on November 8, 2023, then charged again in a third superseding indictment on January 21, 2024, before entering her guilty plea in September. The case was investigated jointly by a Homeland Security Task Force alongside the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI Salt Lake City Field Office, the FBI Special Operations Group, IRS Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
When the broader indictment was unsealed in January 2024, magistrate judges ordered 22 of 23 individual defendants detained in custody across 33 federal counts, according to Gephardt Daily. Investigators estimated the broader enterprise laundered more than $20 million beginning in January 2022, with original accusations implicating 24 defendants in the operation overall. The same joint operation turned up 62,000 fentanyl pills, 24.5 pounds of heroin, 8.5 pounds of cocaine, five firearms, and $237,000 in cash tied to the distribution ring, the outlet reported.
Sentencing Set for December, Deportation Looms
Espinoza-Grajeda is scheduled to be sentenced on December 14 at 8:30 a.m. in Courtroom 1.1 of the Orrin G. Hatch United States Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City, before a U.S. district court judge. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1956, a federal conviction for conspiracy to launder monetary instruments carries a maximum statutory penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison, supervised release, and a fine of up to $500,000 or twice the value of the laundered property, per the Department of Justice.
Because Espinoza-Grajeda is an undocumented Mexican national, her federal conviction constitutes an aggravated felony under U.S. immigration law, making her subject to mandatory federal immigration detainers and potential deportation after she completes her prison term, the Department of Justice said. The multi-year case spanned two U.S. Attorneys in the District of Utah, launching publicly under then-U.S. Attorney Trina A. Higgins in January 2024 and culminating in the guilty plea announced this month by U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak.
What specific prison term prosecutors will recommend under federal sentencing guidelines remains unresolved ahead of the December hearing, as does the status of pending charges against co-defendants like De Sutter.
