‘That day he couldn’t do it’: Florida man sent wife on drug-money run that resulted in her carjacking and fiery death

A Florida man will spend several years behind bars after his wife died a fiery death during a drug-money run gone horribly wrong.

In April, Miguel Aguasvivas Lizardo, 35, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering in federal district court.

On Tuesday, he was sentenced to seven years in federal prison.

All three legal participants in the matter – the prosecution, the defense, and the judge – seem to believe the sentence is not particularly commensurate with the admitted crime. These apparent disagreements, however, come from vastly different places.

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“It was the unfortunate events [related to] his wife that we believe caused the sentence to be this high,” Brett Meltzer, the defendant’s attorney, told Orlando-based ABC affiliate WFTV after the sentencing. “My client had nothing to do with that.”

But the judge and the prosecution sharply disagreed.

In April 2024, before 6 p.m., Katherine Aguasvivas, 41, was carjacked at the intersection of East Lake Drive and Tuskawilla Road in Winter Springs, a small city located along the northern outskirts of Orlando.

The brazen, broad-daylight crime was captured on video by an onlooker who took video on their cellphone. A green Acura TL rammed the victim’s white Dodge Durango from behind and a gunman then rushed out. After being rammed, Aguasvivas even called her husband. He told her not to stop – but the red light boxed her in, footage showed.

Fearing for her life – with a 10 mm handgun in view – Aguasvivas allowed the masked assailant into the backseat. The SUV drove off and the sedan followed before the victim was instructed to slow down and follow the man driving the Acura. Two U-turns later, the vehicles traveled some 24 miles due south through several counties before stopping at a construction site on Boggy Creek Road in Kissimmee.

There, prosecutors believe the carjackers turned murderers. Aguasvivas’ body was doused in lighter fluid, shot several times, and set ablaze. Eventually, the flames chewed through nearly everything – leaving the victim all but unidentifiable and her vehicle a structural gray husk. After 7 p.m., Osceola County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived in response to 911 calls about smoke rising and shots being fired.

Law enforcement used dental records to confirm Aguasvivas’ identity, the sheriff’s office said during a press conference on April 12, 2024.

Prosecutors allege Lizardo forced his wife into the scheme.

On the day in question, Aguasvivas left the Miami suburb of Homestead at around noon and headed to Seminole County – roughly 250 miles north – and picked up $170,000 in Colombian cartel cash.

The defendant, for his part, said his wife willingly substituted for him to perform the relatively low-level job as a money courier.

“It just happened to be that day he couldn’t do it,” Meltzer went on to tell the TV station. “He asked the wife to do it. She went ahead. He would’ve been the one killed if he would’ve gone.”

In the defense’s sentencing memorandum, Meltzer asked the judge to impose a 41-month sentence on his client. The court document argued that the defendant is a family man who is needed at home.

“Mr. Aguasvivas is a devoted and loving father who has spent a tremendous amount of time with his children,” the sentencing memo reads. “The time Mr. Aguasvivas has been incarcerated has been especially difficult on them. Unfortunately, the mother of his 6-year-old daughter was tragically killed. Mr. Aguasvivas’s daughter is in therapy due to her mother’s passing and her dad’s absence. Mr. Aguasvivas is heartbroken that he will spend a considerable amount of time in prison away from his children during their formative years. He is a very present father and is always helping other people. Mr. Aguasvivas takes care of his children both emotionally and financially and a prolong[ed] period of incarceration will have a devastating impact on his children. His 6-year-old daughter currently does not have either parent present, which is taking a tremendous toll on her.”

The state, in their own notice of intent to seek the maximum sentence, argued Lizardo and Aguasvivas had worked together before, citing a confidential witness who claimed the woman went on “over” 10 such money pick-up trips. Prosecutors further argued that Aguasvivas was paid $1,000 per trip, which she needed to pay rent, and that the couple was separated at the time she died.

The maximum sentence for conspiracy to commit money laundering is 20 years in prison, while sentencing guidelines for a pleaded-out conviction suggest somewhere between just shy of six years and just over seven years. In giving a seven-year sentence, the judge effectively doubled what the defense asked for; just shy of the guidelines’ maximum but well short of the statutory maximum.

The court reportedly credited the state’s arguments.

During the hearing, the judge said he believed Lizardo put Aguasvivas in harm’s way and that he deserved a long time in prison, according to a courtroom report by Daytona Beach-based NBC affiliate WESH.

Despite the plea, the defense plans to appeal the sentence.

The post ‘That day he couldn’t do it’: Florida man sent wife on drug-money run that resulted in her carjacking and fiery death first appeared on Law & Crime.