Reported by CITY NEWS SERVICE

(Excerpt shared below. To read full report, go to: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/09/22/music-promoter-sentenced-in-san-diego-for-agreeing-to-launder-drug-money/)

A music promoter who agreed to launder $100,000 that he believed were drug proceeds was sentenced Monday in San Diego federal court to 18 months in prison.

Hugo Lever pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering for accepting cash from a person he believed was a drug trafficker, but was actually an undercover federal agent, according to prosecutors.

A criminal complaint filed last year stated a confidential informant told law enforcement officials that Lever was seeking investors to fund a music festival in Ensenada and had been “laundering drug proceeds domestically and internationally using concert and event promotion companies.”