A St. Louis man involved in a drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracy was sentenced to 15 years in prison, U.S. Attorney Thomas C. Albus announced on July 20.
According to his plea agreement, Derek Rockette, 53, participated with others in a drug trafficking operation from at least 2016 to 2021 that included the sale of cocaine. From at least 2017 to 2021, Rockette laundered proceeds from the operation but lost more than $1.5 million gambling. He began repaying the money in installments to two money laundering organizations working on behalf of his drug source.
The case details indicate that in May and July of 2018, Rockette made payments totaling over $350,000; one payment was intercepted by law enforcement en route to Chicago. In August of that year, another payment was deposited into a bank account and transferred to Mexico within days. Investigators tracked further funds through confidential sources working with federal agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), seizing substantial amounts intended for both Mexican- and Chinese-based money laundering groups.
Money handled by the Chinese group was used in a trade-based scheme involving airline ticket sales in China, while funds managed by the Mexican group were deposited via ATMs before being quickly transferred abroad. On March 25, 2019, Rockette fled from officers but was apprehended with a firearm despite being a convicted felon due to a prior federal conviction related to marijuana distribution from 2008. On March 23, 2021, he was stopped again by police with cash and quantities of cocaine, fentanyl, and a heroin-fentanyl-cocaine mixture during a traffic stop.
Rockette pleaded guilty in January before the U.S. District Court in St. Louis on counts including conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to launder money, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The investigation involved multiple agencies: DEA, FBI, HSI under Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and Illinois State Police; Assistant U.S. Attorney James Delworth prosecuted the case.
This prosecution is part of Operation Take Back America—a nationwide initiative using resources from Department of Justice programs such as Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces—to combat illegal immigration and transnational criminal organizations affecting communities across Missouri’s Eastern District, according to the official website. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri investigates federal crimes—including those involving drugs—and serves forty-nine counties across Missouri while operating out of courthouses located in St. Louis and Cape Girardeau.