A Chicago-based money launderer involved in a drug trafficking organization has been sentenced to over eight years in federal prison. Cosme Chacon, 55, admitted guilt to a money laundering conspiracy charge in 2023. U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp, Jr. delivered the 100-month sentence during a hearing on Tuesday in Chicago's federal court.
Chacon was one of four individuals indicted in Chicago back in 2007. The group was part of an operation that transported heroin from New York, Florida, and Texas to Chicago. Once the drugs were sold locally, Chacon facilitated the laundering of proceeds through wire transfers to Colombia and other international locations. His co-defendants received federal prison sentences of 16 years, 12 years, and one year after pleading guilty.
In 2009, while out on bond, Chacon failed to attend status hearings leading up to his trial and subsequently became a fugitive until his arrest in Panama in 2022. He was then returned to the United States.
The sentencing announcement came from Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Sean Fitzgerald, Special Agent-in-Charge of Homeland Security Investigations' Chicago office; and Ramsey E. Covington, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation's Chicago Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian F. Williamson represented the government.
The capture and return of Chacon were supported by IRS Criminal Investigation Panama City, the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.
This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation aimed at identifying and dismantling drug traffickers and money launderers using a multi-agency approach that combines federal, state, and local law enforcement efforts against criminal networks.
