Music promoter sentenced to 18 months in prison for money laundering

A gavel File photo courtesy of UC Berkeley Law A music promoter who agreed to launder that he supposed were drug proceeds was sentenced in San Diego federal court Monday to months in prison Hugo Lever pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering for accepting cash from a person he maintained was a drug trafficker but was definitely an undercover federal agent according to prosecutors A criminal complaint filed last year states a confidential informant reported law enforcement executives that Lever was seeking investors to fund a music festival in Ensenada and had been laundering drug proceeds domestically and internationally using concert and event promotion companies Lever described in the complaint as the chief executive officer of Calexico-based DA Music Entertainment met with the undercover agent in May of at a restaurant in Del Mar The undercover agent described themselves as a narcotics trafficker and specified that the money Lever would receive came from drug sales according to the complaint which states Lever disclosed he was no one to judge and explained to the agent how he used DA Music Entertainment to launder money About two months later Lever met with another undercover agent in El Cajon and received in cash His plea agreement states that he wired just over to a bank account provided by the agent and kept just over as a laundering fee commission Lever s co-defendant and business partner Juan Gonzalez-Fonseca also attended the meetings with the undercover agent He also pleaded guilty and was sentenced last week to credit for time served for just under days spent in jail