RI Native With Ties to Sen. Reed Is DEA Official Indicted on Conspiring to Launder $12M for Cartel

RI Native With Ties to Sen. Reed Is DEA Official Indicted on Conspiring to Launder $12M for Cartel

On Friday, the world was rocked by the news that Paul Campo, a former top official with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), was indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice.

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and Administrator of the DEA, Terrance C. Cole, announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging Campo and Robert Sensi with narcoterrorism, terrorism, narcotics distribution, and money laundering charges. 

The two were arrested in New York. 

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“As alleged, Paul Campo and Robert Sensi conspired to assist CJNG, one of the most notorious Mexican cartels that is responsible for countless deaths through violence and drug trafficking in the United States and Mexico,” said U.S. Attorney Clayton.  “As part of that support, the defendants laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars they believed to be CJNG drug proceeds, agreed to launder millions more, and even agreed to use their financial expertise to facilitate cocaine trafficking right here in New York City."

"By participating in this scheme, Campo betrayed the mission he was entrusted with pursuing for his 25-year career with the DEA," Clayton continued. "CJNG is a violent and corrupting criminal enterprise that New Yorkers want broken. I commend the extraordinary efforts of the DEA in aggressively pursuing CJNG and those who support their deadly and corrupt efforts, no matter who they may be.”

Sensi, Campo's co-conspirator, has since the indictment been identified as a former CIA operative. 

At the DEA, Campo enjoyed a star career. 

Campo’s own bio claims, “Campo had a 25-year career as a Special Agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration. He was appointed Deputy Chief of the Office of Financial Operations in February of 2013. In this capacity, Mr. Campo oversaw in excess of 17 million dollars in agency funding and was responsible for worldwide money laundering operations. He employed cutting-edge technologies to enhance existing programs, as well as created, developed, and implemented new bilateral enforcement programs with the Government of Mexico and other Latin American countries.”

And, he built a network of political relationships.

He was the Acting Chief of the Office of Congressional Affairs from 2004 to 2005. In that capacity, Campo was the principal advisor to then-administrator Karen Tandy on all Congressional-related matters.

Prior to his arrest, Campo was the founder of Global Financial Consultants. The firm, according to Virginia business records, was founded by Campo in December of 2015 and was registered to his home in Oakton, Virginia.

The firm claimed, “GFC brings decades of government experience and a global network that can examine anti-money laundering safeguards, locate and recover assets, and enhance your business development.”

Today, according to a Campo associate, he is being held at MDC Brooklyn, a federal prison.

 

Reed and Campo

What wasn’t reported about Campo was that he grew up in North Providence and his ties to U.S. Senator Jack Reed. The Senator's office disputes the depth of the relationship between Campo and Reed.

But multiple sources tell GoLocal that Campo had close ties to Reed.

One former DEA agent with direct knowledge and who worked with Campo during his ascension told GoLocal that Campo had a “close” relationship with Senator Reed.

Another person with close business ties to Campo and who had firsthand knowledge of Campo’s relationship with Reed said he did not know how the relationship began, but that the two were in contact and that Campo “had Reed’s number and used it.”

GoLocal reached out to Reed's office about his relationship with Campo and asked how their relationship began, what the nature of the relationship was, and when the two were last in contact.

Chip Unruh, press secretary to Reed, wrote in an email to GoLocal on Sunday night,  “Your source[s] [are] wrong or [have] Senator Reed confused with someone else. Senator Reed does not recall this person well, and the schedule records show two courtesy meetings over a decade ago.”

Much of Campo’s family still lives in Rhode Island. One of his brothers — Steven, who is a developer — has been in local Rhode Island politics. He served a stint on the North Kingstown Town Council and ran both for State Senate and State Representative. 

 

 

Details of the Indictment

The 15-page indictment portrays Campo and Sensi trading on the government experience. Beyond the alleged money laundering, they also said they could secure weapons for the Cartel. EDITOR’S NOTE: CS-1 is a reference to “confidential source 1.”

After these initial meetings, PAUL CAMPO and ROBERT SENSI, the defendants, together met with CS-1 to discuss money laundering, drug trafficking, drug manufacturing, and the procurement of firearms and explosive devices for the CJNG. During these conversations, CAMPO and SENSI agreed to launder money for CS-1 by, among other things, converting cash into cryptocurrency and making investments in real estate.

CAMPO and SENSI also agreed to explore procuring commercial drones and military-grade weapons and equipment for CJNG, including AR-15 semi-automatic rifles, M4 carbines, M16 rifles, grenade launchers, and rocket propelled grenades. Regarding the drones, in one meeting, CS-1 explained to CAMPO, "what we do with the drones, we put explosives and we just send it over there, boom"; in another conversation, CS-1 asked SENSI how much C-4 explosive the drones could carry, to which SENSI responded, in sum and substance, approximately six kilograms, which is enough to "blow up the whole fucking ... I don't want to say."

 

Further, the indictment document claims:

In connection with these discussions with CS-1, CAMPO, SENSI, and their co-conspirators have laundered funds on three occasions, totaling $750,000, by converting cash into cryptocurrency and returning it to CS-1 and others. The first two times, CS-1 represented these funds to be proceeds of narcotics trafficking activity.

The final time, CAMPO and SENSI agreed to directly participate in a purported narcotics transaction, in which they converted cash into cryptocurrency, which they understood would trigger the distribution of approximately 220 kilograms of cocaine worth approximately $5,000,000, for which CAMPO and SENSI would (i) receive directly a portion of the narcotics proceeds as profit; and (ii) receive a further commission upon the laundering of the balance of the narcotics proceeds. CAMPO and SENSI have further agreed to launder up to at least $12,000,000 of CJNG narcotics proceeds.

 

Minimum of 20 Years

Campo and Sensi are each charged with one count of conspiring to commit narcoterrorism, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison; one count of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison; one count of conspiring to provide material support and resources to CJNG, a designated foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and one count of conspiring to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.