Pico Rivera man faces decades in prison on drug-money laundering conviction

LOS ANGELES — A Pico Rivera man faces sentencing in April for his role in a money laundering conspiracy that moved millions of dollars in narcotics-related funds from the United States to international drug trafficking organizations.

Gustavo Adolfo Aldana-Martinez, 57, was found guilty late Friday of conspiracy to launder money following a three-day trial in federal court in Los Angeles, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The evidence at trial showed that Aldana-Martinez accepted wire transfers of trafficker-directed drug proceeds sent from an undercover account run by agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

After nearly $300,000 was sent to a bank account in the name of his bogus business, Aldana-Martinez made a series of wire transfers to unrelated companies to pay for electronic items that were then shipped to Colombia and Mexico, where they were sold to produce laundered funds for the drug traffickers, prosecutors said.

The evidence showed that Aldana-Martinez laundered about $15.5 million between 2015 and 2017.

The man who oversaw the money laundering enterprise — Daniel Shaun Zilke, 48, of Mexico City, pleaded guilty on Dec. 8 to conspiracy to aid and abet drug distribution, conspiracy to launder money, and obstruction of an official government proceeding for stealing and attempting to cover up the theft of $150,000 in DEA undercover funds.

The third defendant in the case — Jeffrey Mark Thompson, 62, of Springtown, Texas, pleaded guilty on Nov. 27 to conspiracy to aid and abet drug distribution, conspiracy to launder money and money laundering.

All three defendants were named in a federal grand jury indictment filed in January. A fourth defendant in the case — Juan Rachid Dergal-Zulbaran, 48, of Mexico City — is currently a fugitive, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

During the investigation, Zilke approached the DEA in 2019 and offered his cooperation to expose the money laundering organization. After being made a cooperator and agreeing to always be truthful, Zilke received $200,000 in official government funds to be delivered to defendant Thompson.

The intent was for Thompson to launder the money through his bank accounts and return the money to DEA undercover accounts. However, as Zilke admitted in his plea agreement, nearly two weeks after the cash delivery, Zilke returned to Thompson’s residence and took back $150,000 without telling the DEA agents. Officials said evidence shows that after this theft of government funds, he repeatedly lied to the agents about the money and made excuses for why it was taking so long to receive the wire transfers for the full $200,000.

As a result of the conviction and guilty pleas, the three defendants each face potential sentences of decades in federal prison. Zilke is scheduled to be sentenced on April 1, while Thompson and Aldana-Martinez face sentencing on April 8.