Date: August 19, 2021 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov BOSTON — A Springfield man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Springfield to conspiring to traffic cocaine and launder money. Miguel Betancourt pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni scheduled sentencing for December 8, 2021. Betancourt was indicted in November 2017 as part of a 14-month wiretap investigation into a large-scale drug trafficking organization supplied by sources in Mexico and spanning at least four states. At the plea hearing, Betancourt admitted that, in 2016, he knowingly purchased five kilograms of cocaine, which he intended to distribute to others. Betancourt then used his auto dealership, State Line Auto Sales in Enfield, Conn., to launder some of the drug proceeds by providing two vehicles registered in another individual's name to the source from whom he purchased the cocaine as well as wiring $9,500 to a co-conspirator in Mexico. The charge of conspiracy to distribute cocaine provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a minimum three years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. The charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $500,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell; Ramsey E. Covington, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigations in Boston; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; and Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement. Special assistance was provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration's Carlsbad (Calif.) Resident Office and the Westfield Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Neil L. Desroches and Steven H. Breslow of Mendell's Springfield Branch Office prosecuted the case.
