ORLANDO, Fla. – The South Florida man whose wife was killed last year after a brazen carjacking that was caught on camera near Winter Springs, pleaded guilty Friday as part of the larger investigation into a massive drug ring and money laundering scheme, WKMG in Orlando reported.
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Miguel Aguasvivas, of Homestead, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering before a federal magistrate at the courthouse in Orlando.
Once a district judge formally accepts his plea, Aguasvivas will be sentenced some 90 to 120 days after. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000.
Court records show investigators believe Aguasvivas was a money courier for a wide-ranging drug scheme.
“(Miguel) Aguasvivas was a money courier who would pick up drug proceeds in Central Florida and then drop off money to an individual he believed to be a money launderer (but who was actually a DEA undercover agent) for purposes of converting it to cryptocurrency,” the report reads.
The cryptocurrency was then sent to a drug cartel in Colombia. Investigators believe Aguasvivas had been involved in the money laundering operations between 2021 and 2024.
Investigators believe Aguasvivas sent his wife, Katherine Aguasvivas, to Seminole County in April 2024 to pick up $170,000 in drug money from another suspect, Giovany Crespo Hernandez.
But as Katherine Aguasvivas headed home, Hernandez conspired with two others — Jordanish Torres Garcia and Kevin Ocasio Justiniano — to rob and kill her, detectives claimed.
Video shows Katherine Aguasvivas being carjacked and kidnapped at an intersection in Winter Springs.
Just a few hours later, her body was discovered in her burnt-out Durango at a construction site in Boggy Creek, deputies said at the time.
Several people have been indicted in connection with her death and the wider drug operation.
Investigators say Miguel Aguasvivas had been separated from his wife, but used her as a courier to help her pay bills, giving her $1,000 per trip. They believe Katherine Aguasvivas made over 10 trips to the Orlando area to pick up drug money.
Aguasvivas was arrested in November.