Monica Dominguez Torres, 36, a Mexican national, pleaded guilty on June 13, 2025, to federal charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Dominguez was identified as the leader of a sophisticated transnational criminal organization that operated methamphetamine conversion laboratories in the Atlanta area and was responsible for laundering millions of dollars in drug proceeds back to Mexico.
U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg announced the plea, highlighting the significant impact of the investigation.
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“Dominguez’s elaborate criminal operation has been dismantled, and more than $3.5 million of illicit drug proceeds have been seized as a result of our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners’ diligent work,” said Hertzberg. “Our office will continue to aggressively prosecute individuals like Dominguez who seek an undeserved life of luxury by trafficking deadly drugs in our community.”
According to court documents, Dominguez Torres’s organization established methamphetamine conversion laboratories in the Atlanta area, where liquid methamphetamine sourced from Mexico was transformed into hundreds of kilograms of crystal methamphetamine for distribution locally and beyond. The organization also utilized various Atlanta residences to collect and count millions of dollars in cash generated from these illicit drug sales, which were then laundered and sent to co-conspirators in Mexico.
“Through hard work, this drug trafficking and money laundering network has been removed from our streets,” stated Jae W. Chung, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Division. “This criminal organization had no regard for the destructive impact on our communities.”
The investigation uncovered Dominguez’s lavish spending habits, designed to conceal the illegal origins of her wealth. She purchased five residences, including a seven-bedroom waterfront home in Jonesboro, Georgia, with three of these properties bought using bulk cash.
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Additionally, Dominguez and her associates acquired nine luxury vehicles valued at approximately $780,000. Her expenditures on high-end goods were substantial, with nearly $400,000 spent at Louis Vuitton and over $425,000 at Burberry over roughly four and a half years.
“This conviction sends a strong message to those who think they can live a life of luxury funded by illegal activities,” said Steven N. Schrank, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia and Alabama.
During the course of the investigation, agents seized nearly $3.6 million in cash from Dominguez’s residences, stash locations, and associates. Upon her arrest at her Conyers, Georgia home in February 2024, agents confiscated more than $1.7 million in cash, five firearms, and three vehicles.
Special Agent in Charge Demetrius Hardeman of IRS Criminal Investigation, Atlanta Field Office, emphasized the collaborative effort. “IRS Criminal Investigation special agents, along with our other federal, state, and local law enforcement partners of the Atlanta Strike Force are working together to find, investigate, and bring to justice those who endanger American citizens lives through their drug trafficking and other illicit crimes.”
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Dominguez is scheduled to be sentenced on September 15, 2025, before Chief United States District Judge Leigh Martin May.
She faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison for the drug trafficking conviction, along with a maximum $10,000,000 fine and at least five years of supervised release. The money laundering conviction carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a maximum $500,000 fine or twice the value of the laundered funds, up to three years of supervised release, and forfeiture of property involved in the offense.
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