Former exotic car dealer Joseph DeMaria pleaded guilty Friday to federal drug money laundering charges, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
DeMaria, 54, reportedly helped his business partner – convicted cocaine trafficker Armando “Mandy” Fernandez – launder $250,000 in cocaine profits in October 1991 while Fernandez was negotiating the purchase of a car dealership in Coral Gables.
Federal authorities said Fernandez used the laundered money to help pay for The Collection, an import dealership owned by DeMaria, until he filed bankruptcy in the summer of 1991.
DeMaria faces up to 20 years in prison and $500,000 in fines. Sentencing is schedules for Feb. 12, 1996.
