By The opinion
04 Jul 2024, 11:18 AM EDT
The owner of an Olathe, Kansas, business has pleaded guilty to her role in a money laundering scheme involving the trafficking of heroin and methamphetamine proceeds into Mexico.
Ana Lilia Leal Martineza Mexican citizen living in Overland Park, admitted to receiving drug money and transferring it to Mexico under false identities to evade detection, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri.
The woman confessed that she received drug trafficking profits from criminal operators, including Jose Jesus Sanchez Mendezknown as “El Michoacano.” The transfers, most of which were destined for individuals in Michoacán, were part of a conspiracy that began in May 2020.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Leal Martinez is the owner of the company “Imagen Leal,” based in Olathe, which facilitated money transfers.
She could be sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Between January 1, 2022 and June 8, 2022, Leal Martínez transferred $83,850 to Mexico from his businessstructuring transactions under false names to evade detection.
The woman was among 44 defendants charged in the case, which began in 2022 after Homeland Security Investigations focused on a drug trafficking organization that distributed methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine and fentanyl in the Kansas City area.
Ana Lilia pleaded guilty before federal Judge Beth Phillips to money laundering, facing a possible sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole.
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