PHOENIX - On May 11, 2015, Terance Taylor Prigge, 54, of Phoenix, Ariz., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow to 26.6 years’ imprisonment followed by 10 years’ supervised release. Prigge was convicted by a federal jury on Feb. 12, 2015, of five felony charges that included conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to commit money laundering, international money laundering, promotional money laundering, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
The trial evidence showed that Prigge’s drug trafficking organization transported at least 122 kilograms of cocaine from Latin America, into the American southwest, and then to Chicago from at least early 2010 to September 2013. The organization used private charter flights to transport the drugs from Phoenix and Southern California to Chicago. Prigge was arrested after he exited one of those flights with a co-conspirator in DeKalb, Ill. with 22 kilograms of cocaine in their luggage in September 2013.
The evidence further showed that Prigge had extensive contacts with sources of drug supply in at least two Latin American countries. He was convicted of International Money Laundering for organizing the transfer of $100,000 to an individual in Guatemala in support of a drug deal. He was also convicted of taking other steps to launder money in support of his drug trafficking. Prigge was convicted previously for trafficking cocaine from Panama into the United States and served seven years in prison.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, the Scottsdale Police Department, and the DeKalb, Ill. Police Department. The prosecution was handled by Karen McDonald and Alexander Samuels, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona, Phoenix.
CASE NUMBER: CR-13-01363-PHX-GMS
RELEASE NUMBER: 2015-035_ Prigge
For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
