Two men have been convicted in St. Louis for laundering money on behalf of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Carl Von Garrett, 54, from St. Charles, Missouri, and Tobiyyah Israel, 38, from Ohio, were found guilty by a jury in U.S. District Court of conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering charges. Von Garrett faced an additional count of money laundering.
The trial commenced on May 12. Two other individuals involved had previously pleaded guilty and received sentences. Luis Miguel Hernandez, 38, from Phoenix, admitted to conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of money laundering. He was sentenced to 87 months in prison in January. Antonio Jones, 51, from Florissant, Missouri, pleaded guilty to two counts of money laundering and received a sentence of 37 months.
Hernandez's plea agreement revealed that Von Garrett drove him to meet with an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officer in St. Louis on March 1, 2021, where he delivered $100,095 in drug proceeds. Hernandez subsequently organized meetings between Jones and the task force officer for further transactions involving significant sums of cash.
During closing arguments on Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Delworth described Von Garrett as the "focal point" of the conspiracy while identifying Israel as a courier similar to Jones. On April 14, Israel collected $221,020 from Von Garrett before being stopped by investigators who discovered six phones and a ledger detailing cash drops.
Both defendants are scheduled for sentencing on August 21.
The investigation was conducted by multiple agencies including the DEA, IRS-Criminal Investigation division, FBI along with local police departments such as St. Louis County Police and Bridgeton Police Department among others.
This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation aimed at dismantling high-level criminal organizations through a collaborative approach involving various law enforcement agencies.
