Los Angeles Woman Sentenced to 29 Months for Cocaine and Money Laundering Conspiracy

 LEXINGTON, Ky. – A Los Angeles woman, Nancy Santos, 30, was sentenced in federal court last week, to 29 months in prison, before U.S. District Judge Claria Horn Boom, for conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and conspiracy to launder money.

According to her plea agreement, Santos admitted that she conspired with others to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine in Lexington.  Santos admitted that her role in the conspiracy was to transport loads of Cocaine, from locations in Colorado, to Lexington.  Santos was not involved in the later, street-level distribution; but her other conspirators, Alberto Santos and another conspirator, were responsible for that distribution.  The drug proceeds were collected by Adalberto Santos and another conspirator, who would load it into hidden compartments of vehicles. Santos would then transport the vehicles to Colorado.

Santos pleaded guilty in June 2020.  Her co-conspirator was sentenced earlier this year.  Adalberto Santos was sentenced in October 2020, receiving 162 months.

Under federal law, Santos and her co-conspirators must serve 85 percent of their prison sentences.  Upon her release, Santos will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for three years.

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; J.T. Scott, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Louisville Field Division; and Bryant Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, jointly announced the sentence.

The investigation was conducted by DEA and IRS.  The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Bradbury. 

The investigation was funded by the federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program (OCDETF). The OCDETF program supplies critical federal funding and coordination that allows federal and state agencies to work together to successfully identify, investigate, and prosecute major interstate and international drug trafficking organizations and other criminal enterprises.

The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice.  Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.