CINCINNATI — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Ohio, Southern), published as received.

CINCINNATI – A federal jury found an Arizona man guilty on all counts for his role in leading narcotics and money laundering conspiracies. The government has seized more than 162 kilograms of cocaine, three kilograms of fentanyl and $1.4 million of bulk cash in total.

Cesar Cervantes, 52, of Tucson, Arizona, was convicted of participating in drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracies and of distributing five kilograms or more of cocaine. He faces at least 10 years and up to life in prison.

The verdict was announced following a trial that began on June 9 before U.S. District Judge Matthew W. McFarland.

According to court documents and trial testimony, for several years, Cervantes supplied between 25 and 50 kilograms of cocaine bi-weekly to coconspirators. Cervantes used a network of couriers to deliver the drugs that originated from Mexico to multiple locations, including to designated couriers in Cincinnati. The drug trafficking conspiracy operated from at least July 2018 until August 2023. 

Cervantes used Colombian and Chinese money launderers to funnel the drug proceeds back to Mexico. For example, in July and August 2023, Cesar had other coconspirators deliver approximately $300,000 in drug proceeds to two separate money launderers, one who worked for a sophisticated China-based money laundering organization, and the other who worked for a separate sophisticated Colombia-based money laundering organization. 

Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Joseph O. Dixon, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Detroit, announced the verdict. Assistant United States Attorneys David P. Dornette and Frederic C. Shadley are representing the United States in this case.

These cases are part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Cincinnati comprises agents and officers from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

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