On Friday, Stewart Sachs, 66, of Reisterstown, Maryland, pleaded guilty to money laundering drug proceeds.
According to his plea agreement, between November 2011 and February 2013, Sachs agreed to accept a total of $425,000 worth of narcotics trafficking proceeds. He knew that the money was dirty, but still agreed to sell his real estate as a front for laundering the drug proceeds. On four separate occasions, Sachs met with undercover agents and agreed to transfer real estate owned by Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) to the undercover agents or to anyone else that the agents wanted and no one would know that the agent owned the properties.
The undercover agent had represented himself to be a narcotics officer on numerous occasions, but Sachs still composed the documents to transfer ownership of the LLC to one of the undercover agents. He had one of his employees prepare four checks payable to the agent for $25,000 each.
During the meeting, special agents from the DEA and IRS arrested Sachs and recovered $425,000.
U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis has scheduled sentencing for June 25 at 2:15 p.m. and Sachs can get a maximum sentence of twenty years in prison.
This plea was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Don A. Hibbert of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore Division; and Special Agent in Charge Kimberly Lappin of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation.
