WASHINGTON D.C.
A federal judge today sentenced an international drug kingpin and money launderer who operated in several countries to 30 years in prison , according to authorities.
Gregory Joel Sitzmann, 65, operated a drug dealing and money laundering organization for at least 14 years out of the United States, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Bahamas, France, Italy, Spain and other countries, officials said.
Sitzmann, who was born in Iowa, had most recently resided in Colombia.
He was found guilty by a jury on May 21, 2012, of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, according to officials.
The verdict followed a six-week trial in the U.S. District Court.
U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman also ordered Sitzmann to pay a $500,000 fine.
According to the government’s evidence, these are the facts:
Sitzmann used and conspired to use numerous individuals and artifices to transport hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia and Mexico into the United States and into numerous countries around the world.
For example, officials said Sitzmann used commercial airplanes, and luggage, automobiles and trucks with secret compartments to move the drugs.
Evidence showed that Sitzmann has been involved in drug smuggling and money laundering since at least the 1980s and that he provided hundreds of kilograms of cocaine to a Hells Angels motorcycle gang in Montreal throughout the 1990s.
He maintained corporations and bank accounts in Panama, Switzerland, Luxembourg and elsewhere to facilitate his money laundering and the purchase of assets.
“Gregory Joel Sitzmann was a career wholesale cocaine trafficker who operated an international drug conspiracy at the highest levels that involved over 1,300 kilograms of cocaine,” said U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips. “He directly acquired cocaine from the drug cartels of Colombia and Mexico to transport into the United States and other countries around the world. Now, after years of eluding justice, he has been convicted and will spend an appropriately significant amount of time in prison for his crimes.”
Sitzmann was indicted on Aug. 7, 2008 for activities that took place during the 1990s and at least until 2004.
The day after the indictment, Sitzmann was deported from France to the United States, where Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations’ special agents arrested Sitzmann. He has been in custody ever since.
The defendant delayed trial for years, utilizing numerous attorneys while alternating with demands to represent himself.