Date: Aug. 23, 2024 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov Tampa, FL — United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return of four indictments charging a total of 12 individuals with murder in furtherance of drug trafficking, conspiracy to commit drug trafficking, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, illegal possession of firearms, and bank fraud. The indictments also seek the forfeiture of more than $6.5 million identified as the amount involved in the offenses and proceeds of the offenses, two properties, and firearms. INDICTMENT ONE Carlos Limery Dones Drug Trafficking Organization Indictment Name (Residence) Charges Max Penalty Carlos Limery Dones, a/k/a “Siervo,” “Chino” (Puerto Rico) Drug trafficking conspiracy, money laundering, and bank fraud Life in federal prison. Santos Cruz Rivera (Kissimmee) Drug trafficking conspiracy, distribution of controlled substances, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, maintaining a drug premises, possessing a firearm while a convicted felon, and money laundering conspiracy Life in federal prison. Nelson Franco, a/k/a “Voltio” (South Carolina) Drug trafficking conspiracy, distribution of controlled substances, and money laundering conspiracy Life in federal prison. Rebel Rivera Carbonell (Dundee) Drug trafficking conspiracy, maintaining a drug premises, and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute Life in federal prison. Madelyn Sanchez, a/k/a “La Negra” (Kissimmee) Drug trafficking conspiracy and maintaining a drug premises Life in federal prison. Roberto Rodriguez Almodovar (Kissimmee) Drug trafficking conspiracy and committing murder in furtherance of drug trafficking Faces a maximum sentence of death. Luis Torres Sanchez, a/k/a “Gordo” (Puerto Rico) Drug trafficking conspiracy, distribution of controlled substances, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking Life in federal prison. Johnson Rivera Martinez (Orlando) Drug trafficking conspiracy and distribution of controlled substances Life in federal prison. Yesenia Laracuente (Kissimmee) Money laundering conspiracy 20 years in federal prison. Nancy Contreras, a/k/a “La Doña” (Dundee) Money laundering conspiracy 20 years in federal prison. Carol Flores Morales (South Carolina) Money laundering conspiracy and money laundering 20 years in federal prison. INDICTMENT TWO Wire Fraud Conspiracy in Purchase of a Home Name (Residence) Charges Max Penalty Yesenia Laracuente (Kissimmee) Wire fraud conspiracy 20 years in federal prison. Wilmary Sepulveda (Kissimmee) Wire fraud conspiracy 20 years in federal prison. INDICTMENT THREE COVID-Related Fraud Name (Residence) Charges Max Penalty Carlos Limery Dones Puerto Rico Wire fraud 20 years in federal prison. INDICTMENT FOUR COVID-Related Fraud< Name (Residence) Charges Max Penalty Santos Cruz Rivera (Kissimmee) Wire fraud 20 years in federal prison. According to the indictments, there was a multi-year conspiracy to traffic cocaine and fentanyl within the Middle District of Florida, resulting in several seizures of both substances. Eight of the charged individuals are alleged to be involved in the trafficking of controlled substances. On August 3, 2021, in retaliation for the killing of a lookout at a stash house the organization used, Almodovar murdered one of the individuals present at the homicide with a single gunshot to the back of the head. The individuals charged across the four indictments also engaged in schemes to acquire various homes and other properties by various means. As charged in one indictment, Limery Dones defrauded a bank by transmitting $110,000 to buy a house in the name of a third-party when, in reality, he was the actual purchaser of the home. Franco, Flores Morales, and Contreras allegedly conspired to put a home in Flores Morales’s name when the money came from Franco’s sale of controlled substances. In another scheme charged across two of the indictments, Laracuente and Sepulveda conspired to falsely report Laracuente’s employment and income to secure a mortgage that Cruz Rivera then made payments on in Laracuente’s name with drug proceeds. The third and fourth indictments charge Limery Dones and Cruz Rivera with fraud in obtaining Paycheck Protection Program loans by filing claims for companies that did not exist. An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty. This case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation (CI); Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Osceola County Sheriff’s Office; and Kissimmee Police Department, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations, the Central Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, as part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Dan Baeza and Michael Buchanan. CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.
