Colombian cryptocurrency broker Leonardo de Jesus Zuluaga Duque has been sentenced to 160 months in federal prison for laundering about $14.5m in drug proceeds and taking part in a conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States.
Federal prosecutors announced the sentence on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. Zuluaga Duque, 63, also faces a $14,751,846 forfeiture order and five years of supervised release.
The case involved a cross-border network linking Colombian drug traffickers, an unlicensed American cryptocurrency exchange and a series of shell companies. Prosecutors said the wider operation handled hundreds of millions of dollars, although Zuluaga Duque was directly tied to the laundering of approximately $14.5m.
Between May and November 2023, Zuluaga Duque and several associates converted proceeds from drug trafficking into Tether’s USDT in Colombia. The stablecoin was sent to an American intermediary and exchanged for US dollars.
Those dollars were then moved through US shell companies before being transferred back to Colombian businesses, where they were converted into pesos and distributed.
At the centre of the US operation was Maximilien de Hoop Cartier, an Argentine citizen who claimed links to the Cartier jewellery dynasty. Cartier ran an unlicensed cryptocurrency money-transmitting business through companies presented to banks as legitimate technology firms.
Prosecutors said Cartier’s operation processed more than $470m in illicit proceeds, a figure far greater than the amount attributed directly to Zuluaga Duque. Cartier previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to eight years in federal prison.
Cocaine importation conspiracy
The investigation also tied Zuluaga Duque to an attempt to bring cocaine from Colombia into New York.
In November 2023, confidential sources working with law enforcement arranged a transaction involving about nine kilograms of cocaine paste. Prosecutors said the paste was intended to be processed into cocaine before being delivered to New York state.
Adrian Fernando Areiza Ceballos handed the drugs to an undercover officer, while Zuluaga Duque received a commission for helping organise the deal.
A further prospective purchase, involving approximately 100 kilograms of cocaine paste, was arranged in February 2024. Colombian police later carried out search warrants and recovered roughly 111 kilograms.
Zuluaga Duque and other defendants were arrested in Medellin on April 30, 2024, with the assistance of Interpol.
US Attorney Jamie McDonald said the defendants had used cryptocurrency, shell companies and traditional banking channels to move criminal proceeds across international borders.
The judge also ordered Zuluaga Duque to surrender cryptocurrency linked to four addresses under his control. All five co-defendants have now been sentenced, receiving prison terms ranging from three to eight years.
The case showed that while USDT was used to transfer value across borders, conventional banks, shell companies and dollar transactions remained central to converting that value into Colombian pesos.
