District of Colorado | Fort Collins Woman Sentenced to Six Years for Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering
DENVER—The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Catyria Lopez-Gomez, 43, of Fort Collins, Colorado, was sentenced to 6 years in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, for drug trafficking and money laundering.
According to the plea agreement, the defendant helped launder money for a drug trafficking organization in the Western Colorado. She also recruited others to help send drug proceeds to Mexico. Additionally, she picked up large quantities of methamphetamine from Phoenix, Arizona and drove it to Montrose, Colorado. Once in Montrose, the drugs would be distributed.
“Drug trafficking, and the money-laundering that finances it, are crimes against the community,” said U.S. Attorney Cole Finegan. “We are grateful to our law enforcement partners for their efforts to curb these criminal activities.”
“IRS Special Agents are experts in disrupting and dismantling drug trafficking organizations by targeting their illegal profits used to finance their operations,” said Andy Tsui, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation Denver Field Office. “IRS-CI, our law enforcement partners, and the United States Attorney’s Office will continue to work together to eliminate this threat to our communities.”
IRS-CI, the DEA, the Montrose Police Department, the Montrose County Sheriff’s Office, the Seventh Judicial District Drug Task Force, and the United States Marshals Service investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorneys Alexander Duncan, Susan (Zeke) Knox, and Zachary Phillips handled the prosecution.
This prosecution is a result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles high-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten communities throughout the United States. OCDETF uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. Additional information on the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
Case Number: 19-cr-535
