Federal prosecutors said the last of four flight attendants pleaded guilty this week to smuggling roughly $7 million in drug money to the Dominican Republic over an eight-year period.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said Emmanuel Torres, 34, and Jarol Fabio, 35, both of New York, pleaded guilty Monday and Tuesday, respectively, to smuggling charges.
Authorities said Sarah Valerio Pujols, 42, of New York, and Charlie Hernandez, 42, of West New York, New Jersey, pleaded guilty last month in the case that saw the flight attendants use their “known crewmember” status to bypass security and move the illicit funds.
“These four flight attendants abused their privileges as flight attendants to move money for drug traffickers,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a release. “My office is committed to staunching the illicit flow of narcotics proceeds in all of its forms. These guilty pleas show that the sky is not the limit when it comes to law enforcement’s reach.”
Torres smuggled at least $1.5 million in drug money to the Dominican Republic from 2015 to 2022, according to court documents, while Fabio transported $1.5 million from 2015 to 2023.
Hernandez moved $2.5 million in narcotics cash between 2014 and 2019, and prosecutors said Pujols smuggled at least $1.5 during that same period.
The attorney’s office said two cooperating witnesses — who were both arrested in October 2021 on money laundering charges — were used to set up the defendants.
One of the cooperating witnesses gave Mr. Hernandez $121,215 in drug money in the Bronx in December 2019. Mr. Hernandez then divided the drug money in half with Ms. Pujols and both moved the cash during their next trips to the Dominican Republic.
The FBI said some of the drug money was tied to fentanyl sales.
Each defendant faces up to five years in prison during their sentencing hearings this fall and early next year.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.