03/28/2024
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RALEIGH – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced that in federal court on April 26, 2017, United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle sentenced MARTIN ACOSTA, from Sampson County, North Carolina, to 420 months in prison and 5 years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, five hundred grams or more of methamphetamine, and one hundred kilograms or more of marijuana, as well as conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. ACOSTA pled guilty to these charges on August 1, 2016.

Judge Boyle also sentenced codefendant NOE BARREIRO, from McAllen, Texas, to 84 months in prison for conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. BARREIRO pled guilty to this charge on August 1, 2016.

In 2009, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Wilmington, North Carolina, identified a drug trafficking organization (DTO) led by brothers Manual Acosta and MARTIN ACOSTA. Investigators determined that the DTO would hide narcotics in shipments of fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes. The DTO would ship the narcotics from Mexico into Texas, and then to various locations in the United States.

Within the Eastern District of North Carolina, the DTO primarily distributed cocaine and marijuana in Sampson County. The DTO also distributed narcotics (including methamphetamine and cocaine) from Texas to Illinois and from Florida to Georgia.

In total, investigators determined that the DTO was responsible for distributing more than 50,000 kilograms of cocaine.

Furthermore, DTO members concealed the proceeds of the criminal enterprise through multiple cash deposits. Drug proceeds were deposited into multiple bank accounts controlled by the defendants at various banks from North Carolina to Georgia. DTO members then made withdrawals of cash in Texas or sent international transfers of money to Mexico. The group was responsible for laundering more than $3,000,000 in DTO proceeds.

The case was investigated by the DEA Atlanta Strike Force, the DEA Ft. Meyers Resident Office, the DEA McAllen Field Office, the DEA Houston Resident Office, the DEA Wilmington Field Office,

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