DEA agent José Irizarry guilty to laundering cartel cash = 12 years

Former DEA agent José Irizarry admitted laundering millions for the cartel he was investigating. Feds say Irizarry was "secretly using his position and his special access to information" to divert millions in drug profits. He was sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison. Irizarry broke down as he addressed the court, saying the biggest punishment was not explaining to his two his two young daughters why he would be going away.

The free spending Irizarry stole over $7m.

Spoils included a $30k Tiffany diamond ring for his wife, luxury sports cars and a $767k home in the Caribbean resort city of Cartagena -- on top of residences in south Florida and Puerto Rico. The FBI arrested Irizarry and his wife Nathalia Gómez Irizarry at their home near San Juan, Puerto Rico. Nathalia Gomez is related to Diego Marin, godfather to Irizarry’s children. Marin is linked to the Cali cartel. When Irizarry was an agent in Miami in early 2009, he was entrusted with an undercover money laundering operation using façade companies, accounts in fictitious banks and messaging. Irizarry resigned in January 2018 when his boss began to suspect the scheme.