A New York federal judge has sentenced Leonardo de Jesus Zuluaga Duque, a Colombia-based crypto broker, to 160 months in prison for his role in a drug-money laundering scheme that moved approximately $14.5 million in Tether through cryptocurrency and the U.S. banking system.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced the sentence on Wednesday. Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil also imposed five years of supervised release and ordered forfeiture of $14,751,846.
Prosecutors said Zuluaga Duque held a supervisory role in a network that laundered drug trafficking proceeds between May and November 2023. The scheme converted criminal proceeds into Tether, moved the tokens through an unlicensed money-transmission business, and exchanged them for U.S. dollars. U.S. shell companies then transferred funds to Colombian companies before the money was converted into pesos and distributed locally.
The case highlights how blockchain movements and traditional banking transfers can be used together to obscure the origin of illicit funds. The roughly $14.5 million laundering figure reflects the Tether transactions attributed to the group, while the forfeiture order sets the separate amount Zuluaga Duque must surrender.
