Man, caught with $1.3 million at airport, sentenced to prison

 The Associated Press

GAINESVILLE, Ga. - A man who was arrested at a northeast Georgia local airport with $1.3 million in cash has been sentenced to 17-1/2 years in prison for money laundering.

U.S. District Judge William C. O'Kelley sentenced 60-year-old Kevin Felts on Thursday.

A federal jury convicted Felts of money laundering and weapon charges after a weeklong trial in December.

Prosecutors say the man from Brazoria, Texas, personally handled close to $7 million in drug money that was linked to Mexican drug trafficking.

He was caught with the money in March 2005 after federal drug agents received a tip that a plane would fly to the Gainesville airport to pick up over a million dollars in cash.

Last year, 34-year-old Nora Aguilar pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 21 years in prison. She was found hiding in the plane when Felts was caught.

Prosecutors say Aguilar said she and Felts regularly collected drug proceeds in at least five other U.S. cities and the funds were smuggled to drug traffickers in Mexico.

Two men who turned the cash over to Felts were found in a nearby stash house that contained 17 kilograms of cocaine and $300,000 in cash.

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