Columbian National Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Launder Money

BOSTON – A Colombian National pleaded guilty in federal court on Thursday for his role in a conspiracy to launder money from various international locations back to Colombia.

Pedro Mejia Salazar, 73, of Medellin, Colombia, was charged with one count of conspiracy to launder money, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Mejia arrived in Boston from Colombia on May 3 and appeared in U.S. District Court in Boston on Thursday to plead guilty to the charge against him.

Mejia’s sentencing is scheduled for July 27.

According to court documents, Mejia used a family business, which he ran, to launder drug proceeds for and on behalf of the criminal syndicate La Oficina de Envigado, based in Medellin, Colombia.

Between May 2009 and June 2012, Mejia laundered at least $768,586 in drug proceeds at the direction of Colombian-based money brokers working for La Oficina.

Mejia controlled a series of bank accounts, which he used to launder drug proceeds and deliver them for the benefit of Colombian-based drug trafficking organizations.

Mejia’s criminal activity was uncovered with the help of a cooperating source and an undercover federal agent who posed as a money broker.

The undercover agent agreed to receive bulk cash from money couriers working for Colombian-based drug trafficking organizations and then send the money through Mejia’s business accounts.

The ultimate recipients of the funds were the Colombian narco-traffickers and the money brokers that work for them. Once the undercover agent received bulk cash from money couriers, the agent would call Mejia, who directed the agent to transfer the cash to a series of accounts Mejia controlled.

After the wire transfers were completed, Mejia withdrew the money from the accounts he controlled and distributed it in Colombia to whomever originally arranged the pick-up, either drug trafficking organizations or money brokers.