International drug trafficker sentenced to 30 years

WASHINGTON – The leader of a long-running international drug trafficking and money laundering ring that operated for at least 14 years out of the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Colombia, the Bahamas, France, Italy, Spain, and other countries, was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison. This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Metropolitan Police Department. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Colombian National Police, the French National Police, French Customs, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Royal Bahamas Police, assisted in the investigation.

On May 21, 2012, a jury found Gregory Joel Sitzmann, 65, who was born in Iowa, but most recently resided in Colombia, of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. The verdict followed a six-week trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Upon completion of his prison term, Sitzmann will be placed on 10 years of supervised release. He must also pay a $500,000 fine.

According to the government’s evidence, Sitzmann used and conspired to use numerous individuals and artifices to transport hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia and Mexico into the United States and into numerous countries around the world. For example, Sitzmann used commercial airplanes, automobiles and trucks with secret compartments, as well as luggage with secret compartments, to move the drugs.

Evidence showed that Sitzmann was involved in drug smuggling and money laundering since at least the 1980s and that he provided hundreds of kilograms of cocaine to a Hells Angels motorcycle gang in Montreal, Canada, throughout the 1990s. He maintained corporations and bank accounts in Panama, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and elsewhere to facilitate his money laundering and the purchase of assets.  

“Gregory Joel Sitzmann was a career wholesale cocaine trafficker who operated an international drug conspiracy at the highest levels that involved over 1,300 kilograms of cocaine,” said U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips. “He directly acquired cocaine from the drug cartels of Colombia and Mexico to transport into the United States and other countries around the world. Now, after years of eluding justice, he has been convicted and will spend an appropriately significant amount of time in prison for his crimes. This case shows our determination to combat narcotics traffickers at the highest levels in all corners of the world.”

“The defendant in this case attempted to delay justice for several years,” said Chief Cathy L. Lanier. “Today’s sentencing is yet another example of the resolve that we, as law enforcement, have towards following through on investigating and prosecuting drug traffickers to the greatest extent possible.”

Sitzmann was indicted Aug. 7, 2008, by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia for activities that took place during the 1990s until 2004. The day after the indictment, Sitzmann was deported from France to the United States, where HSI special agents arrested him. He has been in custody ever since. The defendant delayed trial for years, utilizing numerous attorneys while alternating with demands to represent himself.

The prosecution grew out of the efforts of the federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, a multi-agency team that conducts comprehensive, multi-level attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. The principal mission of the nationwide program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and those primarily responsible for the nation’s drug supply. In recent years, investigations by this task force have led to the arrests and indictments of dozens of people from drug organizations that operate in the Washington, D.C. area.