A New York federal judge sentenced Leonardo de Jesus Zuluaga Duque, a Colombia-based cryptocurrency broker, to 160 months in prison in a case involving drug proceeds routed through Tether and the US banking system, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said Wednesday.
Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil also imposed five years of supervised release and ordered forfeiture of $14,751,846, according to prosecutors. The prison term exceeds 13 years.
Prosecutors described Zuluaga Duque as holding a supervisory role in the network. They said he and others helped launder approximately $14.5 million in Tether derived from drug trafficking between May and November 2023.
How the route worked
According to prosecutors, the proceeds were converted into Tether and passed to an unlicensed money-transmission business, where they were exchanged for US dollars. US shell companies then transferred funds to Colombian companies before the money was converted into pesos and distributed, the office said.
The account ties the token transfers to corporate transfers, currency conversion and banking access. Prosecutors said the proceeds ultimately reached recipients in local currency.
Separate figures in the case
The approximately $14.5 million figure refers to the Tether transactions attributed to the group. The forfeiture order separately sets the amount Zuluaga Duque must surrender under the sentence.
