Cranston Money Launderer Sentenced To 42 Months In Federal Prison: US Attorney

BOSTON, MA — A Cranston woman was sentenced to 42 months in prison for laundering the money her then-boyfriend made selling fentanyl, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Carolina Correa, 35, of Cranston, R.I., was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a media release.

Correa, who pleaded guilty in July to money laundering conspiracy, was also ordered to pay a $150,000 fine and forfeiture in the amount of $350,000, according to the release.

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"Correa — an entrepreneur, real estate owner and fundraiser — was the leader of a sophisticated multi-state scheme to launder $450,000 in fentanyl trafficking proceeds derived by her then-boyfriend, Jasdrual Perez," the release said.

Perez was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison for his role as the leader of a large-scale fentanyl trafficking conspiracy responsible for manufacturing and distributing millions of fentanyl pills made to look like oxycodone and Percocet, according to the release.

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"In late 2021 to early 2022, Perez enlisted his financially savvy girlfriend Correa to assist him in concealing his drug proceeds," the release said.

"Correa contacted a friend who was opening a marijuana dispensary in Massachusetts and seeking investors," the release said. "Correa agreed to seek out investors in the dispensary and in exchange, she would get an ownership stake and the title of CFO of the marijuana dispensary."

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Then, in January 2022, "Correa indicated that she had found 'investors' in the marijuana dispensary, according to the release. "Those 'investors' included a real estate investor based in North Carolina with whom Correa had a long-time personal, not professional, relationship, as well as his associate."

Soon after, Correa enlisted a friend to drive $350,000 in Perez’s drug proceeds from Rhode Island to Correa’s “investors” in North Carolina, according to the release.

Financial records showed that the North Carolina investors then wired $350,000 in two transactions from two separate business accounts to a bank account for an attorney for the marijuana dispensary, according to the release, and the money then transferred from the attorney’s account to the marijuana dispensary’s business account.

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"To further create an appearance of legitimacy for the concealed drug proceeds, Correa used her work email address to communicate with the North Carolina 'investors,'" the release said.

"She drafted sham loan paperwork and promissory notes for her, the CEO of the marijuana dispensary and the North Carolina 'investors' to sign to conceal the true source of the funds," according to the release. "Correa and Perez also facilitated, and bank records confirmed, the laundering of an additional $100,000 of Perez’s drug proceeds into the marijuana dispensary’s bank account through the business bank account of a real estate investment company of one of Perez’s Rhode Island-based friends."

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