http://houston.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pres ... 20907a.htm

U. S. Department of Justice
U. S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of Texas

Donald J. DeGabrielle, Jr. •United States Attorney

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2007
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/TXS
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
(713) 567-9301

FOUR IN CUSTODY ON DRUG AND MONEY LAUNDERING CHARGES

(HOUSTON) The joint efforts of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCEDTF) and Strike Force investigation has resulted in the arrest of four persons for their alleged involvement in the distribution of cocaine from Texas to Alabama and New York and the laundering hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug proceeds, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today.

Crescencio Gonzalez, Jr., 37, of Houston, Ricardo Gonzalez Rodriguez, 37, of Rivera, TX, Jose Guadalupe Romero, 37, of Houston, and Nancy Hernandez, 32, of Birmingham, AL are all presently in federal custody charged with conspiring to possess with intent to distribute kilogram quantites of cocaine from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas to Alabama and New York beginning in January 2006. Gonzalez, Rodriguez and Romero are also charged with conspiracy to launder the proceeds of the sales of the contraband amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote the drug trafficking activity beginning in March 2006.

The seven count indictment was returned under seal as to these defendants on February 1, 2007. Although the indictment is unsealed as to the charges against these defendants who are in custody, the indictment remains sealed per order of the court. In addition to the conspiracy counts noted above, Gonzalez and Rodriguez are also charged in two substantive counts of laundering $200,000 in alleged drug proceeds on two occasions in April, 2006. Romero is also accused of possessing with intent to distribute kilogram quantities of cocaine in or about August 2006.

Gonzalez and Romero are expected to appear before a United States Magistrate Judge in Houston today. Rodriguez, who was arrested in Rivera, TX, and Hernandez, who was arrested in Alabama, will appear before the U. S. Magistrate judge nearest the place of their arrest and are subject to transfer and removal to the Houston Divison of the Southern District of Texas to face the pending charges.

The conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and substantive drug charges each carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years imprisonment up to a maximum of life upon conviction, and a $4.0 million fine. The money laundering conspiracy and the substantive money laundering counts each carries a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of up to twice the amount of the financial transaction or $500,000.

The agencies involved in the joint OCEFTF/Strike Force investigative effort which resulted in the charges in this case include the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U. S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, the Texas Rangers, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Houston Police Department (HPD); the Chambers County Narcotics Task Force and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO).

An indictment is a formal accusation, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until convicted through due process of law.

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