Phoenix women sentenced for drug trafficking and money laundering
PHOENIX, Ariz. – Two local women were sentenced March 9, for their participation in multiple drug and money laundering offenses in a probe led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with assistance by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division.
“Drug traffickers, like these two, don't care about the dangers of illicit substances pose to the public,” said Scott Brown, special agent in charge for HSI Phoenix. “Drugs of any kind puts our community at great risk and HSI, with our law enforcement partners, will continue to investigate and remove from our streets those involved in the illicit drug trade and who are also often involved in other criminal activity such as money laundering.”
Consuelo Stephanee Pena, 29, and on March 16, Dulce Avilene Gonzalez-Rosillo, 24, both of Phoenix were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Diane J. Humetewa and U.S. District Judge Douglas L. Rayes, respectively, for their participation in their illegal activity.
Pena was charged with multiple offenses related to drug trafficking and laundering drug proceeds between November 2015 and March 2018. Pena pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin and one count of aiding and abetting money laundering. Pena was sentenced to concurrent terms of 51 months in prison.
On April 17, 2017, Phoenix Police Officers came to the residence Pena shared with her boyfriend in Phoenix, Arizona. While she was speaking to officers in front of the residence, she sent a text message to her boyfriend, warning him that officers were in front of the residence and that he should escape out the back. Pena wanted him to hide drugs that were located in the residence so they would not be found by law enforcement. Pena’s boyfriend responded to Pena’s text by advising he had thrown a bag over the fence. Officers later located that bag, which contained two kilograms of cocaine, nine kilograms of heroin, and 84 grams of fentanyl.
On December 7, 2016, Pena provided Gonzalez-Rosillo with her debit card so that Gonzalez-Rosillo could withdraw drug proceeds from Pena’s bank account and transport the cash to Mexico. Pena admitted she and Gonzalez-Rosillo were being paid to engage in this illegal activity and were splitting the fee. On that same date, Gonzalez-Rosillo was searched by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers as she was attempting to drive outbound into Mexico with the cash. Officers found $7,802 on her person and in her vehicle.
Gonzalez-Rosillo pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin and one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana. In July 2017, Gonzalez-Rosillo was stopped in Nevada while driving two kilograms of heroin from Arizona to Washington state. She was subsequently released from custody. Later, in June 2018, she was arrested for transporting 33 kilograms of marijuana near the United States-Mexico border. Gonzalez-Rosillo was sentenced to 12 months and one day of imprisonment on each count, to run concurrently, and her vehicle was forfeited.
CBP’s Office of Field Operations, United States Border Patrol, the Phoenix Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Nevada Department of Public Safety, and the White Pine County District Attorney’s Office assisted in the successful investigation of this case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lacy Cooper, District of Arizona, Phoenix, handled the prosecutions.
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