The wife of one of the biggest cocaine traffickers in Delaware history has been sentenced to nine years in prison for money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering and structuring bank transactions, the Department of Justice announced Thursday.
The Department of Justice said that Shakira Martinez and her husband Omar Colon laundered almost $1 million in drug money through a real estate company between 2009 and 2017, when the couple was first arrested. Investigations revealed that Colon had built a drug bunker complete with a secret entrance, hidden compartment and tunnel under their home.
BACKGROUND:Drug ring involved secret passages, tunnel in Bear
And while Martinez was not convicted for drug crimes like Colon, U.S. Attorney David C. Weiss said that she had a “central role” in her husband’s drug trafficking operation.
‘Money laundering through Zemi Property Management’
Martinez and Colon — as well as their friends and family members — would deposit the drug money into multiple bank accounts, then buy cashier’s checks, according to the Department of Justice. These cashier’s checks were used to purchase real estate properties in Delaware and Pennsylvania for the couples’ company, Zemi Property Management Inc.
CONVICTION:Cocaine smuggler who built drug bunker under Bear home convicted by federal jury
As Weiss put it, money laundering through Zemi Property Management Inc. was “the only way for (the couple) to reap the fruits of Colon’s drug crimes and amass a real estate empire.”
Colon was previously sentenced to 45 years in prison, the Department of Justice said.
Send story tips or ideas to Hannah Edelman at hedelman@delawareonline.com. For more reporting, follow them on Twitter at @h_edelman.
