United States v. Gamez

MEMORANDUM, JUDGMENT, AND ORDER

WEINSTEIN, Senior District Judge.

I. Introduction:

Defendants Jaime Gamez and Galo Polo were convicted of conspiring to engage in money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956. They assisted Colombian narcotics traffickers using drug money to purchase automobiles in the United States for export to Colombia. Presented is the question— apparently of first impression — of whether conscious avoidance of knowledge that the money came from drugs suffices to enhance a sentence for knowledge of drug relatedness under the Guidelines.

For the reasons indicated below,…