Crime pays handsomely sometimes, but at what cost? Aurora Duron, 50, is paying dearly, her attorney contends, for a million-dollar money-laundering scheme.

On Tuesday, July 7, five years and numerous court delays after her indictment, she was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison.

Duron was the “fall guy” in the caper. Her husband, Francisco Duron, and Mexican nationals Aldo Miranda and Daniel Espinoza were also indicted in 2005 on 90 counts of wire fraud, money laundering and filing false tax returns.

Lawmen believe the men absconded into Mexico to avoid prosecution in the case involving Otis Elevator Co. of Mexico.

Aurora Duron also will spend six months under house arrest after her release from prison and was ordered to pay about $1.4 million in restitution to Otis Elevator by U.S. District Judge John M. Roll.

In an October 2008 agreement, Duron, a former local union activist and Qwest employee in Nogales, pleaded guilty to the felony charges of Conspiracy to Engage in Illegal Monetary Transactions Greater Than $10,000 and a misdemeanor violation of Willful Failure to File an Individual Income Tax Return for 2002.

The maximum penalties for the felony charge were a fine of $250,000, or twice the amount of the criminally derived property involved in the transactions, 10 years in prison, or both. The penalties on the tax-evasion charge carried a maximum fine of $100,000, one year in prison, or both.

In exchange for her accepting the agreement, the federal government dropped the 88 other charges.� 

Between August 2000 and April 2004, Duron deposited nearly $1.1 million in checks from Otis Elevator into bank accounts she had opened in Green Valley and Tucson under the business name Alpha Pallets, court records show.

Francisco Duron was a manager at Nogales, Ariz.-based Alpha Pallets and was responsible for receiving purchase orders and preparing accounts-receivable invoices. Espinoza and Miranda worked in the company’s accounts-payable department.

An investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Internal Revenue Service revealed the group conspired to make false purchase orders for pallets and crates from Alpha Pallets as well as other services.

Lives in Tucson

Duron, who is unemployed and now lives in Tucson, was an administrative vice president for public sector employees for the Communications Workers of America and represented union employees of the City of Nogales. She was instrumental in helping get a sales-tax increase passed by the voters during the administration of former Mayor Albert Kramer in 2004.

In court documents, her Tucson attorney Pamela Katzenberg, said, “This plea represents a sufficient and just sentence given the totality of the circumstances of this case.

“She is a grandmother. She has raised three children to young adulthood. She has been a primary caretaker for her grandchild. She was a lifelong resident of Nogales, Ariz., and was involved in her community, holding a responsible position as a representative of the Qwest employees union, and was involved in local politics. Her arrest and plea in this case was humiliating and continues to be.”

Katzenberg said, “There is no dispute that the offense here was serious �- Punishment is clearly warranted. Restitution is substantial.

“The co-defendants who conceived the scheme and knew how to create documents and manipulate the corporate books and records in order to carry it out will not, in all likelihood, ever be brought to justice. Despite the fact that this scheme and criminal conduct occurred in Mexico, they are free of any criminal sanction there.

“Aurora Duron, however, has stayed to face these charges. She has never tried to flee. She has taken care of her family after being abandoned by her husband and co-defendant. She has accepted responsibility for her role in this offense and (pleaded) guilty, sparing the government the time and considerable expense of a lengthy trial, which would require testimony and review by forensic accounting experts. She is assuming the full burden of this staggering restitution. Eighteen months plus six months home detention with a period of supervised release adequately reflects the seriousness of the offense and provides just punishment. It also allows the defendant to re-enter the work force and begin making restitution sooner, which is certainly just and fair to Otis Elevator,” Katzenberg said.