On June 10, 2004, the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia sentenced Sonia Fantina Villeda and Carlos Omar Gonzalez to 30 months and 24 months in jail respectively for operating a money services business in Virginia and Maryland without the required state licenses.
Sonia Fantina Villeda was the principal and Carlos Omar Gonzalez was an employee of Villeda Express that attempted to conceal and export $206,307 in stuffed toy unicorns and alligator’s at Washington, Dulles Airport to Guatemala. Jose Ronald Sandoval, Sr., a courier, was also charged and held in jail since his arrest on January 28, 2004. He was found guilty of knowingly smuggling more than $10,000 without reporting the currency to Customs authorities and deported to Guatemala. In was the second time this year a courier working for Villeda express was intercepted at Dulles Airport. Sonia Villeda agreed to forfeit the entire $206,307 to the government.
This case was the subject of a grand jury indictment in Alexandria last March whereby Villeda, Gonzalez, and Sandoval pleaded guilty as charged. Both Virginia and Maryland laws require a money transmission license prior to engaging in the money transmission business. The case was investigated by US. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with assistance from state and federal agencies.