Buffalo man sentenced for money laundering

BUFFALO, N.Y.--U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Henry Lloyd, 28, of Buffalo, N.Y., who was convicted of conspiracy to commit money laundering, was sentenced to 46 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.

Assistant U.S. Attorney George C. Burgasser, who handled the case, stated that Lloyd conspired with others to transport $364,000 in a vehicle equipped with a hidden compartment where the money was secreted. The vehicle was stopped in eastern Texas where law enforcement officers discovered and seized the currency. Lloyd admitted the money was going to be used to buy cocaine. As part of the conspiracy, the defendant laundered $34,000 in drug proceeds to purchase vehicles from a local car dealer.

The case is related to a multi-kilogram cocaine distribution network between Buffalo and Houston, Texas. Twenty defendants were arrested in that case and to date, 19 have been convicted.

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Safe Streets Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of James J. Hunt, Acting Special Agent in Charge, New York Field Division, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James S. Higgins, New York Field Field Division.