3 charged in money laundering scheme in US

Published: Thursday, January 4, 2007 4:25 PM CST

Kansan Staff Report

A Kansas City, Mo., man and two accomplices are charged in a federal indictment with attempting to launder more than $350,000 in drug funds in Kansas City, Kan.

Froylan Guerrero, 23, Kansas City, Mo.; Minerva Galindo Renteria, 51, El Paso, Texas; and Martha Galindo, 48, El Paso, are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, one count of attempted money laundering, and one count of attempting to smuggle cash out of the United States. The crimes are alleged to have occurred at various times from Feb. 1, 2006, through Aug. 28, 2006, in KCK.

In count one, the indictment charges that the defendants conspired to move $356,020 in cash out of the United States in an effort to conceal that the money was obtained from drug trafficking. On Aug. 28, the second count of the indictment says, the defendants attempted to launder $191,020 by transporting it to a place outside the United States. Investigators seized the money. On the same date, the indictment says, the defendants concealed $98,000 in an article of luggage in an attempt to smuggle it out of the United States. In a separate count, the government seeks the forfeiture of $356,020 in proceeds from the crimes.

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $500,000 on each of the money laundering charges, and a maximum penalty of five years and a fine up to $250,00 on the smuggling charge. The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri McCracken is prosecuting.


OTHER INDICTMENTS

A grand jury meeting in Kansas City, Kan., Wednesday also returned the following indictments:

Ignacio Murillo, 37, El Paso, Texas, is charged in a superseding indictment with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, one count of money laundering, and one count of possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. The crimes are alleged to have occurred at various times from January 2001 to December 27, 2002.

According to the indictment, Murillo attempted to transport by vehicle from Kansas to Texas $238,000 in cash obtained from drug trafficking. A separate count seeks the forfeiture of the cash, as well as $6.3 million obtained from drug trafficking and a 1995 Freightliner Tractor.

Murillo and co-defendant Victor Sanabria-Adame initially were indicted on Jan. 1, 2003. Murillo became a fugitive in 2003 while he was free on bond. He was arrested in October 2006 in Texas. Sanabria-Adame was sentenced in July 2003 to 24 months in federal prison.

If convicted, Murillo faces a penalty of not less than 10 years and not more than life on each of the drug charges, and a maximum penalty of 20 years and a fine up to $500,000 on the money laundering charge. The Federal Bureau of Investigation prepared the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Terra Morehead is prosecuting.

Michael Allen Swim, 48, Lawrence, Kan., is charged with one count of possession of child pornography and one count of receiving images of child pornography via computer. The crimes are alleged to have occurred in August 2003 in Lawrence.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on the possession charge, and a penalty of not less than five years and not more than 20 years and a fine up to $250,000 on the charge of receiving child pornography. The Lawrence Police Department investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Martin is prosecuting.

Timothy S. Dalton, 40, Overland Park, Kan., is charged with unlawfully possessing a firearm after a felony conviction. He was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 1994 in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Mo. The most recent crime is alleged to have occurred Nov. 27, 2007, in Overland Park.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The Overland Park Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Terra Morehead is prosecuting.

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