CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – A man from the Chicago area has been sentenced to nearly five years in federal prison for his involvement in money laundering for a Mexican drug trafficking organization.
Jose Eladio Medina Valenzuela, 45, of Cicero, Illinois, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Prosecutors claim that between May and October 2020, he assisted in the transfer of over $335,000 from Iowa methamphetamine sales to individuals in Mexico.
Judge Leonard T. Strand of the United States District Court handed down Medina Valenzuela’s sentence. He received 57 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dillan Edwards and investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Task Force consisting of the Waterloo Police Department, Cedar Falls Police Department, Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Department, Evansdale Police Department, Waverly Police Department, Hudson Police Department, La Porte City Police Department, and the Bremer County Sheriff’s Department; the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement.
