A Brazilian national has pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder the proceeds of drug trafficking, according to a July 31 announcement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. The district court accepted Ygor Fokin Saviolli’s plea, as well as those of five co-defendants on June 1.
According to court documents, Saviolli, 35; Gabriel Cezar Menezes, 29; Omar Aliperti De Mello Correa, 34; Joao Andrade De Mello, 29; Tadeu Sebastiane Rabelo Alves Barbosa, 30; and Leandro De Avila Goncalves, 42—all residing in Orlando—were members of a sophisticated money laundering organization operating across the United States and internationally. Members arranged for bulk cash proceeds from controlled substance sales to be received by U.S.-based couriers and deposited at banks nationwide in order to conceal and return profits to sources outside the United States. Coordination was managed through WhatsApp message chains among facilitators and couriers. Saviolli provided upfront funds for operations and oversaw receipt and laundering of cash drug proceeds. Menezes acted as facilitator with oversight responsibilities and also personally picked up bulk cash multiple times. Correa, De Mello, Barbosa, and Goncalves served as couriers conducting pickups in cities such as Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Rochester, and Tampa. The organization concealed more than $30 million during its operation.
“Drug traffickers cannot operate at scale without money launderers who collect, conceal, and return their profits,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “With Ygor Fokin Saviolli’s guilty plea, all six defendants have now admitted their roles in a sophisticated organization that moved more than $30 million in drug proceeds across the United States and abroad. We will continue following the money, dismantling the financial networks behind international drug trafficking, and taking the profit out of poisoning American communities.”
Each defendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering with a maximum penalty of twenty years’ imprisonment possible upon sentencing by a federal district court judge after consideration of guidelines and statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division joined Reding Quiñones along with Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of FBI Miami Field Office announcing these developments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Monique Botero for Southern District of Florida along with Trial Attorneys James Hepburn and Jessee Alexander-Hoeppner are prosecuting this case.
The FBI is investigating with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rochester Resident Office plus Homeland Security Investigations Brasilia attaché office and Miami Field Office.
The Money Laundering Narcotics & Forfeiture Section (MNF) works to eliminate criminal profit streams impacting U.S. financial systems by pursuing prosecutions against facilitators—including financial institutions—and asset recovery actions involving transnational crime organizations. According to the official website, the U.S. Attorney for Southern District oversees an area spanning about 15,197 square miles across nine counties serving over seven million residents through branch offices including Fort Lauderdale; employs about 223 assistant attorneys plus support staff; operates under Department of Justice authority; prosecutes federal cases both criminal and civil in nature while collecting specific debts.