Leader of $56 million Kansas City cocaine empire gets 15 years, prosecutors say
A leader of a multi-million dollar criminal enterprise was sentenced in federal court Friday after pleading guilty to directing the distribution of thousands of pounds of cocaine in the Kansas City area over the course of about four years, according to federal prosecutors.
Jose Luis Armendariz-Rascon, 40, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison without the possibility of parole, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri announced Friday. He must also pay $56 million in proceeds from the drug-trafficking ring to the federal government as a condition of his punishment.
The drug ring brought in an estimated 2,600 kilograms, or roughly 5,750 pounds, of cocaine, federal prosecutors said.
Armendariz-Rascon, of Kansas City, Kansas, is among 13 people from the Kansas City area who were brought up on criminal charges related to the long-running drug ring. Investigators alleged Armendariz-Rascon was in charge of coordinating cocaine shipments from El Paso, Texas and sending money back as payment.
One cash supply run of nearly $500,000 was seized by law enforcement in May 2017, federal prosecutors said, after a surveillance operation that began in the Northland in the 4700 block of North Mulberry Court.
Twelve of the 13 accused have been sentenced in the conspiracy, according to federal prosecutors.
One is Howard Walters, 43, of Lee’s Summit, who received a 25-year sentence last month for participating in the scheme as a money launderer. He was the owner of a Kansas City auto dealership when he was criminally charged. His wife, Nina Walters, was also sentenced for a role in the crime.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, Lee’s Summit Police Department and the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal division.
