Florida Man Sentenced for Role in Money Laundering Conspiracy

Press Release

Defendant laundered almost $600,000 in drug proceeds

BOSTON - A Florida man was sentenced yesterday for his for his participation in a money laundering conspiracy.

Robert Hueton Colespring, 56, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Colespring was also ordered to pay a fine of $5,000. In May 2024, Colespring pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and conducting substantive money laundering transactions.

Beginning in 2016 and continuing until 2022, an investigation into a money laundering organization based primarily in Barranquilla, Colombia was conducted. An undercover agent infiltrated the organization by portraying himself as an international money launderer able to pick up bulk cash throughout the world, launder the proceeds through his United States-based accounts and send the money to Colombia through the Black Market Peso Exchange - a common method of trade-based money laundering used to repatriate the proceeds of drug trafficking to Colombia.

Throughout the course of the investigation, members of the money laundering organization would contact the undercover agent and arrange meetings for him and his purported associates to collect cash for laundering. Individuals, such as Colespring, performed the role of money courier. On two occasions in Florida, Colespring delivered bulk cash which was then deposited into the undercover agent's bank account in Massachusetts and then subsequently wired to accounts and repatriated back to drug traffickers in Colombia. Over the course of the conspiracy, Colespring was responsible for the laundering of approximately $599,990 in drug proceeds.

Colespring was charged in a 50-count indictment along with 19 other individuals in March 2022. Colespring is the eighth defendant to be sentenced in the case. Four other defendants have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua R. Levy and Stephen Belleau, Acting Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jared C. Dolan and Alathea E. Porter of the Criminal Division prosecuted the case.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Updated September 12, 2024