Colombian Broker Gets 160 Months for Laundering $14.5M in Tether

A U.S. judge sentenced Colombian crypto broker Leonardo de Jesus Zuluaga Duque to 160 months in prison for laundering about $14.5 million in drug proceeds through Tether (USDT).

U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil imposed the sentence Wednesday, Oct. 21. Zuluaga Duque was also ordered to forfeit $14,751,846, plus cryptocurrency tokens previously held in four addresses he controlled, and serve five years of supervised release.

The laundering took place from about May through November 2023. Drug proceeds were converted to Tether and routed through an unlicensed money-transmitting business, which exchanged the tokens for U.S. dollars. U.S.-based shell companies sent the dollars to Colombian firms, where the money was converted to pesos for distribution.

Prosecutors also said Zuluaga Duque earned a commission for helping arrange a November 2023 purchase of about nine kilograms of cocaine paste. The paste was intended to be processed into cocaine and delivered to New York. The case linked crypto transfers to a broader cash-conversion path between the United States and Colombia.