Charge: California man was part of conspiracy to launder $23M in drug money through Lexington

A California man faces prosecution in Kentucky after he allegedly helped launder $23 million in drug money through Lexington, court records say.

Anthony Scott Cossu was arrested in April and made his first Kentucky court appearance last week after being indicted by a federal grand jury on a charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Cossu is identified as an “international money broker” who imported controlled substances and needed profits laundered and returned to drug suppliers in Mexico, according to court documents.

Cossu is one of several defendants charged in federal court in relation to the operation.

Carlos Gonzalez, Rudy Guerro, Warren Miller and Oscar Alberto Palaciso Espericuete have also been indicted in connection to the scheme. All the men allegedly participated in the organization sometime from August 2018 to December 2021.

On different occasions the men separately delivered drug proceeds to undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agents acting as couriers, according to court documents.

The undercover agent would receive a “contract” from the men who organized the transaction to collect money in Lexington. The agent was expected to pick up the money and provide a serial number for a one dollar bill to be used as a code during the drop.

This code was given to the person delivering the money and confirmed that the “courier” had the specific bill in his possession before transferring the money.

These men would arrange meetings at different places throughout Lexington, including a gym parking lot and a hotel parking lot, according to court documents. Once the undercover agent had the money, it would be transferred to an undercover DEA bank account.

The agent then laundered the money by wire transfer through a Bitcoin cryptocurrency exchange to an address provided by the broker, according to court documents.

Despite Cossu’s recent arrest, the other defendants – Gonzalez, Guerro, Miller and Espericuete – have already been convicted and sentenced by Danny Reeves, chief U.S. district judge.

All but Guerro accepted a plea deal, according to court records. Guerro was convicted by a jury for one count of conspiracy to launder money. He was sentenced to serve just over six and a half years in prison in November.

Gonzalez and Espericuete both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering as part of a plea deal, according to their plea agreements.

Espericuete was sentenced in September to serve two and a half years in prison. Gonzalez was sentenced to eight years.

Gonzalez collected money from the drug sales, counted and packaged the money, and provided the money to the courier, according to court documents.

In February 2020, DEA agents were surveying Gonzalez’s Chicago residence and stopped him in his car when Gonzalez left the house.

After a consented search of his vehicle, agents found multiple pounds of marijuana in the car and a money counting machine in the trunk. Because of this, the agents searched Gonzalez’s home, where they found a trap compartment in the floor containing 26 kilograms of cocaine and $140,000, according to court documents.

Agents found $227,804 in drug money in Gonzalez’s bedroom, along with a gun and ammunition.

He admitted he stored and distributed narcotics for an individual in Mexico.

Miller pleaded guilty to two charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and promotional money laundering. He was sentenced to two years in prison.

Cossu is expected to appear for a jury trial on June 13.