Midland Businessman Pleads Guilty to Illegal Currency Structuring

United States Attorney John E. Murphy announced that in Midland, 55-year-old Hector Jesus Garcia-Ponce, proprietor of Hector’s Pipe Company of Midland, faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a maximum $250,000 fine after pleading guilty to charges that he illegally structured cash withdrawals to avoid reporting requirements for cash transactions exceeding $10,000.

Appearing before United States Magistrate Judge David Counts yesterday, Garcia-Ponce admitted that over a four-year period beginning in January 2004 and continuing through July 2008, he repeatedly withdrew cash from his bank accounts in amounts just under $10,000, most often in increments of $8000 or $9000. Although it is not illegal to withdraw cash in amounts exceeding $10,000, federal law requires financial institutions to file with the federal government a currency transaction reports, or “CTR,” to document any such transaction. It is a criminal violation to purposefully structure cash withdrawals or deposits to prevent financial institutions from filing CTRs.

Ponce-Garcia also acknowledged as part of his plea that when interviewed, he told federal agents that he had indeed been trying to avoid the filing of CTRs related to his banking activities, and that he did so in order to assist his efforts to avoid paying taxes on his income.

Sentencing has yet to be scheduled.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney John S. Klassen is prosecuting the matter for the government.