Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Ygor Fokin Saviolli, 35, a Brazilian national, was sentenced today to 12 years in prison for his role as a manager and supervisor in a money laundering organization that laundered more than $30 million in illicit proceeds, including the proceeds of drug trafficking. On September 24, five co-defendants received sentences ranging from 94 months in prison to 12 months and one day in prison.
Gabriel Cezar Menezes, 29, a Brazilian national, was sentenced to 94 months; Omar Aliperti De Mello Correa, 34, a U.S. citizen, was sentenced to 30 months; Leandro De Avila Goncalves, 43, a Brazilian national, was sentenced to 24 months; and Joao Andrade De Mello, 29, and Tadeu Sebastiane Rabelo Alves Barbosa, 30, both Brazilian nationals, were each sentenced to 12 months and one day. The Brazilian national defendants were illegally residing in the United States at the time of their arrests.
According to court documents, Saviolli, Menezes, Correa, Goncalves, De Mello, and Barbosa were part of a sophisticated money laundering organization that operated across the United States and spanned several countries. Members of the conspiracy arranged for U.S.-based couriers to receive bulk cash proceeds from the sale of controlled substances and then to deposit the cash at banks across the country in order to conceal and return those profits to, among others, the sources of drug supply operating outside the United States. Dozens of pickups across the country were coordinated through WhatsApp message chains that included facilitators and couriers. Saviolli provided upfront funds to facilitate the operations of the money laundering organization and oversaw the receipt and laundering of the bulk cash drug proceeds. Menezes also served as a facilitator, providing direction to and oversight of couriers, and personally picked up bulk cash on multiple occasions. Correa, De Mello, Barbosa, and Goncalves all served as couriers for the money laundering organization, conducting bulk cash pickups in cities including Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Rochester, and Tampa, among others. Over the course of the conspiracy, the organization concealed more than $30 million in cash.
In June 2026, the defendants’ guilty pleas to conspiracy to commit money laundering were accepted by the district court.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida, and Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office made the announcement.
The FBI investigated the case, with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rochester Resident Office and Homeland Security Investigations’ Brasilia Attaché Office and Miami Field Office.
Trial Attorneys James Hepburn and Jessee Alexander-Hoeppner of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section (MNF) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Monique Botero for the Southern District of Florida prosecuted the case.
MNF’s mission is to take the profit out of crime, eliminate drug cartels, and protect the U.S. financial system. MNF pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery actions involving: financial facilitators who launder profits for criminals; financial institutions and their officers and employees whose actions threaten the U.S. financial system and financial institutions; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and control of international drug trafficking organizations.
MNF’s International Unit investigates and prosecutes cross-border money laundering schemes involving transnational criminal organizations, cartels, foreign official corruption and related money laundering affecting the U.S. financial system and prosecutes criminal cases and civil forfeiture matters to recover the proceeds of those crimes.