An Olathe, Kansas business owner has pleaded guilty in federal court for her role in a money-laundering conspiracy tied to drug trafficking operations. Ana Lilia Leal-Martinez, 48, a Mexican citizen residing in Overland Park, admitted to participating in the conspiracy, which involved transferring proceeds from heroin and methamphetamine trafficking to Mexico.
Leal-Martinez, the owner of Imagen Leal, a money transfer service in Olathe, confessed before U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips to committing money laundering from May 23, 2020, to Sept. 20, 2022. Leal-Martinez acknowledged accepting drug proceeds from co-conspirators, including Jose Jesus Sanchez-Mendez, also known as “Michoacano,” 41, a Mexican national. She then wired these proceeds to individuals in Michoacan, Mexico.
Between Jan. 1, 2022, and June 8, 2022, Leal-Martinez transferred $83,850 to Mexico from her business, structuring the transactions under assumed names to evade detection. Leal-Martinez was among 44 defendants indicted in this case, which began in 2022 after Homeland Security Investigations targeted a drug-trafficking organization distributing methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl in the Kansas City area.
Co-defendant Flor Gonzalez-Celestine, 54, of Kansas City, Mo., also pleaded guilty to her involvement in the $4.7 million conspiracy, which lasted from Feb. 28, 2020, to Sept. 20, 2022. Gonzalez-Celestine engaged in four controlled drug buys monitored by law enforcement, selling over a kilogram of methamphetamine to a confidential informant and possessing approximately 2.2 additional kilograms of methamphetamine.
Sanchez-Mendez has also pleaded guilty to charges related to a continuing criminal enterprise, drug trafficking, money laundering conspiracies, and illegal reentry into the United States. His sentencing hearing is yet to be scheduled.
Leal-Martinez faces up to 20 years in federal prison without parole, while Gonzalez-Celestine faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in federal prison without parole. Sentencing will be determined by the court based on advisory sentencing guidelines and statutory factors. Sentencing hearings will occur after presentence investigations by the United States Probation Office.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick C. Edwards and Megan A. Baker and was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Jackson County Drug Task Force, IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Independence, Mo., Police Department, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Minnesota State Patrol, the Olmsted County, Minn., Sheriff’s Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the FBI, the Clay County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Marshals Service.
