La. lawyer denies federal charges

• By DAVID J. MITCHELL
• Advocate Florida parishes bureau
• Published: Jun 5, 2009 - Page: 4B

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A Greensburg lawyer pleaded innocent Thursday in U.S. District Court at Houston to a charge of laundering money for an international cocaine ring operating in Venezuela, Mexico and the United States, his attorney said.

William Hugh Sibley, 62, entered the initial plea before U.S. District Judge Calvin Botley around 11 a.m., said Sibley defense attorney James Manasseh, of Baton Rouge. Manasseh declined further comment.

Deputies with the U.S. Marshals Service in Baton Rouge arrested Sibley on May 28 in Greensburg on a single count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, prosecutors said.

The crime of money laundering attempts to make money gained through illegal means appear legitimate.

Prosecutors accused Sibley of using bank accounts to hide drug money and of distributing that money for the ring that transported “multi-kilogram” cocaine shipments, court records show. Sibley remains free on a $100,000 bond.

The initial plea came as new information emerged in court and aviation records about the cocaine and cash transportation conspiracy to which federal prosecutors have linked Sibley, who goes by the first name of “Hugh.”

Sibley’s case has a link to an earlier federal prosecution involving Broken Arrow, Okla., businessman Lee R. Snider, a defendant who is awaiting sentencing on June 26 in U.S. District Court in Tulsa, Okla., records show.

In January 2007, Snider pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to launder money in connection with a scheme to buy and lease aircraft for the transport of illegal drugs and cash and to hide who was leasing the planes, court records show.

In an August 2006 indictment against Snider, federal prosecutors identify eight business aircraft used in the leasing scheme. One of them is the same jet that federal prosecutors in Houston identified as being used by the drug ring with which Sibley was involved, federal court and aviation records show.

Though the indictments of Snider and Sibley are nearly two years apart, they identify the same model of business jet with the same tail number.

According to the indictments against Sibley and Snider, the twin-turbo jet Aero Commander was used to move $3.15 million to the Panama City, Panama, airport in late October 2002.

The jet is registered to Mach Aero International Corp. of Tulsa, Federal Aviation Administration records say.

Snider used Mach Aero to register all the aircraft he leased for narcotics-related activity, prosecutors in Tulsa have said.