Gypsy Jan - 9-19-2012 at 06:58 PM
From The San Diego Union Tribune
Written by Susan Shroder Sept. 18, 2012
SAN DIEGO - "A 45-year-old Calexico man pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to launder drug money related to a planned cross-border drug tunnel,
federal officials said.
Ricardo Rosales-Rafael issued the plea before U.S. District Judge Thomas J. Whelan.
As part of his plea, Rosales-Rafael admitted that during a nine-month period, he received $340,172 in cash in Mexico that he believed came from either
drugs or weapons trafficking to pay for the rental of a large warehouse near the international border in Calexico.
He said in court documents that he was approached by his son-in-law in November 2010 with a plan to open a business for the purpose of laundering
money. The business was called Baja Bikes.
On Aug. 25, 2011, agents with Homeland Security Investigations discovered an incomplete tunnel inside the warehouse, along with sophisticated drilling
and digging equipment, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri Walker Hobson said.
Rosales-Rafael faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 3."