Victoria Barrientos (Muskingum County Prosecutor’s Office)
A convicted money launderer and mom once caught hiding $30,000 worth of drugs on her children while traveling to try and regain custody of one of them was sentenced to 100 years for her role in a drug-dealing conspiracy in Ohio, prosecutors said.
Victoria Barrientos, 27, pleaded guilty to charges including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, money laundering, attempted money laundering, corrupting another with drugs and trafficking drugs, the Muskingum County Prosecutors Office said in a news release.
“For some people, the easy money of drug dealing can become as addicting as the narcotics themselves,” Assistant Prosecutor John Litle said. “But people who traffic pounds of methamphetamine and fentanyl obviously need serious time in prison. The century of prison handed out to this operation stands as a reminder that the courts in this county will always impose those serious sentences.”
Authorities said Barrientos was convicted two years ago of money laundering and permitting drug abuse charges as part of a group led by her boyfriend, Deangelo “D-Lo” Tellis. He’s serving a 15 to 19-and-a-half-year sentence.
She was released early to a halfway house after serving 18 months, officials said.
After getting out, authorities said she returned to her drug-dealing ways, selling fentanyl to a man while she was on the phone with her boyfriend.
She was arrested in a traffic stop while she was on her way to Zanesville to try to regain custody of one of her children, prosecutors said. In a baby wipe dispenser in a bag on her children, she hid a bag containing $30,000 in suboxone — typically used to treat opioid addiction.
“Children’s Services arrived at the stop because Barrientos had other children with her who needed to be placed in proper care,” prosecutors said in a news release. “While sorting through the children’s care items, caseworkers found a large quantity of suspected suboxone strips, which had been individually bagged for distribution.”
Fourteen other associates of the “Tellis group” were convicted and are either serving or have served time.
Authorities said drug busts involving this group of traffickers are among the largest in county history, officials said. The ring started operating outside Columbus in 2017 after an associate was murdered in Columbus.
“This group had a strong hold on the area. They were major suppliers, especially to Zanesville and Muskingum County,” Zanesville Police Chief Tony Coury said after a major bust involving the group in 2021.
Law&Crime’s Jerry Lambe contributed to this report.
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