PENNSYLVANIA, USA – A Jamaican woman on Wednesday was sentenced to more than 14 years in prison after she laundered money for an international cocaine ring that distributed the illegal drug in several western Pennsylvania districts.

Marcia Cunningham, 54, a former resident of Plantation in Florida, United States, was ordered to serve 178 months in federal prison for violations of money laundering and narcotics laws.

She had pleaded guilty to the charges during a previous hearing.

United States District Judge Marilyn J Horan also imposed five years of supervised release on her conviction. 

Cunningham is not a United States citizen and is expected to be “deported once she completes her sentence,” a statement from the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania said on Wednesday. 

According to information presented to the court, Cunningham was part of an international drug trafficking organisation that arranged for the importation of multiple kilograms of cocaine from Mexico that were then distributed, through mails, to various customers, several of whom resided in the western district of Pennsylvania. 

The organisation was run by a man identified as Hector Forbes, a resident of California. He pleaded guilty in 2020 and awaits sentencing. 

Forbes’ brother, Robert, was also indicted for his role in the ring and sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison in 2020.

For her role in the cocaine ring – which spanned between April 2017 and April 2019, according to prior press releases – Cunningham set up a post office box using a fake name and fake identification documents that was used in the conspiracy.

The US Attorney’s Office further indicated that Cunningham was particularly “instrumental in the money laundering activities of the conspiracy”. 

The office outlined that, “She used dozens of bank accounts to launder the drug trafficking proceeds that were then used to purchase luxury vehicles, real estate, jewelry, and other items that supported her exorbitant lifestyle.” 

Further, Cunningham arranged to use the proceeds of drug trafficking to purchase assets in Jamaica, where she hoped to live eventually.

She had immigrated to the United States from Jamaica, but was not a citizen of the North American country, the US Attorney’s Office asserted. 

Cunningham was eventually arrested and charged following investigations carried out by the Organised Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).