Federal Court in Sherman, Texas Adjudges Federico Andrés Machado Guilty of Money-Laundering and Wire-Fraud Conspiracy on a May 18 Plea; Sentencing Set for Nov. 10

On Aug. 4, 2026 (order date) Chief District Judge Amos Mazzant adopted a magistrate judge’s findings and adjudged Federico Andrés Machado, defendant (4) in United States v. Mercer-Erwin et al., Eastern District of Texas, No. 4:20-cr-00212, guilty on Count One of an Information (conspiracy to commit money laundering, 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h)) and Count Two (conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1349). The plea itself was entered at a hearing on May 18, 2026 under Rule 11(c)(1)(C); the judge accepted the plea but deferred accepting the plea agreement until the presentence report is reviewed. Sentencing was reset on Sept. 29 from Oct. 26 to Nov. 10, 2026.

Sequence on the docket and in Argentine press: a 2021 indictment unsealed Feb. 26, 2021 (DOJ release naming Machado and seven others); extradition from Argentina by United Airlines flight leaving Ezeiza the night of Nov. 5, 2025 (ART) and landing at Houston about 8:15 a.m. ART Nov. 6; docket “Arrest” entry Nov. 6, 2025 and initial appearance Nov. 7 (CT). Argentine press calls him “Fred” Machado.

The public plea papers (Information, factual basis, findings, order) charge only the two conspiracies. The 2021 release listed a cocaine-distribution conspiracy among the counts of the eight-defendant indictment but does not say which counts each defendant faced, and no order dismissing any count as to him was seen on the docket through Sept. 29, 2026; the plea agreement and presentence report are sealed. The Information and factual basis are image-only PDFs, read here by OCR. None of the public documents read mentions Baires Fly, Brazil or the Bolsonaros. The only link to the Baires Fly jet in the sources read is Argentine press describing a businessman processed in the ANDIS case as a former partner of Machado (see the Oct. 16 entry); nothing read shows Machado arranged any flight.