Queens Man Sentenced to 16 Months in Prison for Laundering Bitcoin and Operating Unlicensed Money Transmitting Business

Mustafa Goklu, also known as “Mustangy,” was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Brooklyn by United States District Judge Pamela K. Chen to 16 months’ imprisonment for money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business as part of a scheme to launder Bitcoin that the defendant believed to be the proceeds of drug trafficking.  Goklu was convicted of those charges after a jury trial in October 2022.

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Frank A. Tarentino, III, Special Agent-in-Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Division (DEA), announced the sentence.

“Drug trafficking would be less pervasive and lucrative if money launderers like the defendant did not enable washing the illegal proceeds of the deadly trade,” stated United States Attorney Peace.  “In this case, Goklu used an online peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange to advertise his cryptocurrency for cash exchange services.  Facilitating the ability of drug traffickers to distribute narcotics in the United States is fully deserving of a prison sentence.”

“Technology may change the manner in which money laundering takes place; but not the motive,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank Tarentino.  “Money launderers' true nature is to conceal criminality and this sentence shines a light on Mustafa Goklu’s conviction.   DEA is focused on bringing drug traffickers and those who support the distribution of poison through money laundering to justice. I commend the DEA NY Cyber Investigative Unit and our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York for their diligent work throughout this investigation.”

In July 2018, DEA Special Agents identified an advertisement posted on the website “localbitcoins.com” where an individual with the username “Mustangy” offered to purchase up to $99,999 worth of Bitcoins (BTC), a type of digital currency also known as cryptocurrency, and convert them into U.S. currency for a fee.  Law enforcement agents later identified Goklu as the individual using the username Mustangy. On July 11, 2018, a DEA Special Agent acting in an undercover capacity (the “UC”) began exchanging encrypted text messages with Goklu to arrange in-person exchanges of BTC to U.S. currency.  The UC and the defendant subsequently met and engaged in seven transactions or attempted exchanges of BTC to cash over a nine-month period, culminating in Goklu’s arrest in April 2019.  The UC indicated to the defendant on multiple occasions that the source of the BTC the defendant was exchanging was narcotics trafficking and that as part of the UC’s business he sold oxycodone, Adderall, and marijuana.  The transactions occurred in the defendant’s parked Mercedes-Benz, at a coffee shop in Sunnyside, Queens, and at locations in Manhattan.  The amounts exchanged at each transaction ranged from approximately $5,000 to $50,000 for a total of $133,000.  During each transaction, the UC transferred BTC to Goklu’s cryptocurrency wallet, after which the defendant retained a seven or eight percent commission fee and provided the UC with the remaining amount in cash. The evidence introduced at trial also showed that the defendant was engaged in similar illicit Bitcoin exchanges with multiple other individuals.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Gillian Kassner and Francisco J. Navarro are in charge of the prosecution with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Bridget Donovan.

The Defendant:

MUSTAFA GOKLU (also known as “Mustangy”)
Age:  50
Sunnyside, Queens

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 19-CR-386 (PKC)