District of Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On March 31, 2022, a federal grand jury returned a 92-count indictment charging two individuals with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering. Today, FBI agents arrested both defendants without incident.

According to court documents, Carmelo Santiago-Santiago and Efraín Delgado-Rodríguez conspired and executed a scheme to commit bank fraud to obtain money held by Company A, an insurance company located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Carmelo Santiago-Santiago worked at Company A since 2016 as an accountant overseeing matters related to accounts’ reconciliation and closing journal entries. Efraín Delgado-Rodríguez was the President of Fast Contractors LLC, a general construction company in Puerto Rico.

The defendants created false and fraudulent checks using the check numbers of outstanding checks and voided checks originally issued to vendors and service providers of Company A. Using the check number and account number for Company A, the defendants changed the payee and made the false checks payable to Delgado-Rodríguez and Fast Contractors LLC. Once the false checks were deposited, funds were then shared with Santiago-Santiago. The fraudulent checks also contained the digital handwritten signature of Company A personnel without their knowledge or consent. The defendants’ conspiracy and scheme to defraud involved approximately $526,767 in actual loss.

“Financial fraud is one of the largest challenges facing American citizens and businesses today. Prevention and prosecution of crimes of this nature will remain a top priority for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.” said United States Attorney, W. Stephen Muldrow.

“This type of scheme is sadly a recurring one that we see far too often. My message to corporations is, prevention is the key and the FBI is here to help,” said Joseph González, Special Agent in Charge of FBI San Juan. “We have resources available to enhance awareness, as well empower your compliance teams so you can avoid becoming a victim. Call us to coordinate a presentation, and of course, if the worst happens, and you become a victim, call 787-987-6500.”

The defendants made their initial court appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Marcos E. López of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a mandatory consecutive sentence of at least two years for the aggravated identity theft charges. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie Christine Amy is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On March 23, 2022, a federal grand jury returned an eight-count indictment charging three individuals for drug trafficking, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The United States Postal Inspection Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case, titled Operation Air Fryer Express.

According to court documents, Héctor Colón-Rosario, Edgardo Colón-Pons, and Carlos Neftalí Torres-Santiago were arrested on March 31, 2022, for the large-scale distribution of kilogram quantities of cocaine to the continental United States. The indictment alleges that starting in June of 2020, the defendants used the United States Postal Service to send kilograms of cocaine to the continental United States. Specifically, these three defendants purchased new household appliances such as air fryers, among other things, and concealed kilograms of cocaine in those newly bought items. They would mail those items in larger boxes by way of the United States Postal Service to Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Florida, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Maryland. Other co-conspirators would receive the cocaine-laden shipments for further distribution. 

The defendants made their initial court appearance yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Marcos E. López of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. If convicted, the defendants face a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Vance Eaton is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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A former Puerto Rico legislator and two employees who worked in his office pleaded guilty this week to engaging in a bribery and kickback scheme.

According to court documents, Nelson Del Valle Colon, 56, of Dorado, Puerto Rico, pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of federal program bribery, and Mildred Estrada-Rojas, 55, of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, and her daughter, Nickolle Santos-Estrada, 32, also of Bayamon, each pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of federal program bribery.

Del Valle Colon was elected to the Puerto Rico House of Representatives in 2016 and hired Estrada and Santos to work in his legislative office. In exchange for their employment and their salaries, Estrada and Santos paid biweekly kickbacks to Del Valle Colon of between approximately $500 and $1,300 from early 2017 until July 2020.

According to admissions made in connection with their pleas, Del Valle Colon, Estrada, and Santos paid the kickbacks in a variety of ways. Estrada and Santos generally paid cash in an envelope that they provided to Del Valle Colon in an office in the Capitol Building in Old San Juan. Estrada also sometimes paid Del Valle Colon over ATH Móvil, a mobile phone cash transfer application. Another individual who worked for Del Valle Colon in his legislative office also agreed to pay Del Valle Colon biweekly cash kickbacks during that individual’s employment with Del Valle Colon.

Del Valle Colon is scheduled to be sentenced on June 30, and Estrada and Santos are scheduled to be sentenced on June 29. Each faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico, and Special Agent in Charge Joseph González of the FBI’s San Juan Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI’s San Juan Field Office is investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Jonathan E. Jacobson of the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Anderson from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico are prosecuting the case.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A former Puerto Rico legislator and two employees who worked in his office pleaded guilty this week to engaging in a bribery and kickback scheme.

Nelson Del Valle Colón, 56, of Dorado, Puerto Rico, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Silvia Carreño-Coll to one count of federal program bribery.  Mildred Estrada-Rojas, 55, of Bayamón, Puerto Rico, and her daughter, Nickolle Santos-Estrada, 32, also of Bayamón, Puerto Rico, pleaded guilty yesterday before Judge Carreño-Coll, each to one count of federal program bribery.

“We will continue to prosecute public officials whose conduct undermines the public’s trust in the government,” said U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico. “Public corruption destroys the trust we have in our elected officials, which is essential for democracy to thrive. Now the defendants will be held accountable for violating one of the basic tenets of public trust, that is, serving their constituents with integrity and honesty.”

“Public corruption investigations require hard work and dedication. They take time to complete, because they are sensitive and complex in nature,” said Joseph González, Special Agent in Charge of The FBI San Juan Field Office. “Today’s result is another example of how our steadfast commitment to doing the right thing, the right way pays dividends in justice to the people of Puerto Rico. Special thanks to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico, for their continued support to the FBI mission.”

According to court documents, Del Valle Colón was elected to be a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives in 2016.  He thereafter hired Estrada and Santos to work in his legislative office.  In exchange for their employment and their salaries, however, Estrada and Santos paid biweekly kickbacks to Del Valle Colón of between approximately $500 and $1,300 from early 2017 until July 2020.

According to admissions made in connection with their pleas, Del Valle Colón, Estrada, and Santos admitted that they paid and he received the biweekly kickbacks in a variety of ways.  Estrada and Santos generally paid their biweekly cash kickbacks in an envelope that they provided to Del Valle Colón in an office in the Capitol Building in Old San Juan.  Estrada sometimes paid her kickback to Del Valle Colón over ATH Móvil, a mobile phone cash transfer application.  Another individual who worked for Del Valle Colón in his legislative office also agreed to pay Del Valle Colón biweekly cash kickbacks during this individual’s employment with Del Valle Colón.

Del Valle Colón is scheduled to be sentenced on June 30, and Estrada, and Santos on June 29, and each faces a maximum penalty of ten years in prison.  A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico, and Special Agent in Charge Joseph González of the FBI’s San Juan Field Office made the announcement.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s San Juan Field Office.

Trial Attorney Jonathan E. Jacobson of the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Anderson from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico are prosecuting the case.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging pastor Emmanuel Morales-Hernández, 29, of Lares, Puerto Rico, with coercion and enticement of a minor and attempted receipt of child exploitation material, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The arrest follows an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with the assistance of the Puerto Rico Police Bureau (PRPB) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico.

According to court documents, around November and December of 2021, Emmanuel Morales-Hernández knowingly persuaded, induced, enticed, and coerced an individual who had not attained the age of 18 to engage in sexual activity. The man was arrested at his residence without incident. The defendant is a well-known pastor in Lares and Utuado. Morales-Hernández utilized his position of public trust to entice and coerce a 16-year-old minor.

“The defendant used his position of trust in his community to prey on a minor, making him the victim of child exploitation,” said U.S. Attorney Muldrow. “If you are a victim or know of another victim of this individual, please come forward; contact the authorities so we can protect you and others from these crimes. We want the community to know that the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice, along with our federal, state and local partners, are committed to protecting children from these criminals.”

“The sexual exploitation of minors, in all forms, is a despicable and a very serious crime. HSI will fiercely investigate these crimes to identify the alleged perpetrator, arrest him or her, and obtain solid evidence that will prevail in court,” said Iván J. Arvelo, Special Agent in Charge for HSI San Juan. “We will continue working with our local and federal partners and using all resources available and robust investigative authorities to identify you, arrest you and prosecute you.”

Morales-Hernández had his initial hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce McGiverin on March 24. He was transferred to the Guaynabo Metropolitan Detention Center awaiting the outcome of his case.

If convicted, Morales-Hernández faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison for the enticement and coercion charge, and a mandatory minimum penalty of five years for the attempted receipt of child exploitation material. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant United States Attorney Jenifer Hernández-Vega, Chief of the Child Exploitation and Immigration Unit, is in charge of the prosecution of this case.

HSI is the principal investigative arm of DHS and a vital U.S. asset in combatting transnational crimes and threats. One of HSI’s top priorities is to protect the public from crimes of victimization, and HSI’s child exploitation investigations program is a central component of this mission. HSI is recognized as a global leader in this investigative discipline, and is committed to utilizing its vast authorities, international footprint and strong government and non-government partnerships to identify and rescue child victims, identify and apprehend offenders, prevent transnational child sexual abuse and help make the internet a safer place for children.

For more information about HSI’s efforts to protect children from online sexual abuse, visit https://www.ice.gov/topics/iGuardians.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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SAN JUAN, P.R. – On March 23, 2022, the Federal Grand Jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment charging Fernando Gallardo-Álvarez and his consensual partner Olga Rivera-Dávila with a conspiracy to commit mail, wire, and bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering violations related to fraudulently obtained funds from the Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Program, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The case was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (USDOL-OIG), U.S. Postal Inspector Service, Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG), the Puerto Rico Department of Labor (PRDL), and the Puerto Rico Police Bureau (PRPB).

According to the indictment, Fernando Gallardo-Álvarez and Olga Rivera-Dávila devised a conspiracy and scheme to defraud the United States and Puerto Rico’s state-federal Unemployment Insurance programs and financial institutions to obtain money for personal gain by making materially false and fraudulent representations to obtain and deposit UI/PUA funds.  The defendants used the social security numbers and names of others to fraudulently obtain UI/PUA funds and then proceeded to alter the fraudulently obtained checks to list the defendant’s own names and personal identifying information. These falsified checks were then deposited into multiple accounts under the defendants’ control. The defendants also concealed the proceeds of the fraud scheme and structured subsequent financial transactions.

In a separate indictment, Fernando Gallardo-Álvarez is charged with fraudulently submitting false immigration documentation, mail fraud, misuse of social security numbers, and aggravated identity theft.

From approximately 2017 through August 2021, defendant Gallardo-Álvarez unlawfully enriched himself and obtained money from individuals, by preparing and filing Violence Against Woman Act (VAWA) petitions with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) containing false information using Form I-360 and accompanying forms for work authorization and fee waivers. Form I-360 is used by battered spouses, children, and parents to file an immigrant visa petition under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended by the VAWA.

According to the indictment, Gallardo-Álvarez made false representations to non-citizens that he was an attorney and collected thousands of dollars for legal services to assist them in resolving their immigration status. After collecting payment, Gallardo-Álvarez would file VAWA petitions containing false and incomplete information without the petitioners’ knowledge and consent. Gallardo-Álvarez knew the petitions he submitted to the USCIS contained false information and that he could not provide the needed documentation for the USCIS to adjudicate the petitions filed.

When USCIS did not receive enough information to fully adjudicate a VAWA petition utilizing Form I-360 submitted by the defendant, USCIS would ask Gallardo-Álvarez, for more information before ultimately denying the VAWA petition. While the VAWA petition was pending, USCIS would make a preliminary determination regarding eligibility for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD card), i.e., work authorization.

The EAD cards obtained by Gallardo-Álvarez for his clients were only valid for one year and many petitioners returned to him before the year was over to refile their petitions. Gallardo-Álvarez would charge these petitioners thousands of U.S. dollars to submit Form I-360s and associated immigration applications.

USCIS records suggest that Gallardo-Álvarez has filed at least 136 fraudulent I-360 VAWA applications for over 100 petitioners within the last four years.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSA) Victor Acevedo and Manuel Muñiz Lorenzi are in charge of the prosecution of the PUA fraud case. If convicted, the defendants are facing up to 30 years in prison for bank fraud, 20 years for mail and wire fraud, and a mandatory consecutive term of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft.

AUSAs Daynelle Álvarez-Lora and Daniel Olinghouse are in charge of the prosecution of the immigration fraud case.  Gallardo-Álvarez is also facing up to 20 years in prison for mail fraud, up to 10 years for misuse of visa, up to five years for misuse of Social Security number, and a mandatory consecutive two-year term of prison for aggravated identity theft.

To report a COVID-19-related fraud scheme or suspicious activity, contact the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) by calling the NCDF Hotline at 1-866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – U.S. District Judge Francisco Besosa sentenced Ricardo Pérez-Delgado to a term of 480 months (40 years) in prison for his participation in a robbery resulting in the murder of Armando Rosado-Molina, a businessman who owned several gas stations and other commercial properties, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.

Between March 30, 2019 and March 31, 2019, Pérez-Delgado and his co-defendants planned to commit a robbery at Rosado-Molina’s residence in San Lorenzo.  During the evening hours between March 31, 2019 and April 1, 2019, Pérez-Delgado and his co-defendants set up surveillance near Rosado-Molina’s residence.  They were armed with a baseball bat, a weapon having the appearance of a rifle, and pepper spray.  Pérez-Delgado and his co-defendants later breached the residence and encountered Rosado-Molina who tried to defend himself with a firearm he legally owned.  During a physical struggle with Pérez-Delgado, Rosado-Molina lost control of the firearm.  He was subsequently beaten with a baseball bat, after which point Pérez-Delgado shot and killed Rosado-Molina.

Pérez-Delgado and his co-defendants, all of whom have already pleaded guilty, took two motor vehicles and over $20,000 from Rosado-Molina’s residence.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was in charge of the investigation, and Assistant United States Attorney Alexander Alum prosecuted the case.

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SAN JUAN, P.R. – On March 10, 2022, the Federal Grand Jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment charging Martín Scamaroni-Cintrón with money laundering violations related to fraudulently obtained funds from the Unemployment Insurance and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (USDOL-OIG), and the Puerto Rico Department of Treasury (Hacienda).

According to the indictment, Scamaroni-Cintrón engaged in a money laundering conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h) to obtain Electronic Transfers of Funds (ETFs) containing Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) payments from multiple states as well as the proceeds of U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) loans that he was not qualified and authorized to receive in his various bank accounts held in Puerto Rico. The applications for UI and PUA were fraudulently submitted in the names of other persons, whom never applied for UI and PUA benefits or SBA loans, but the applications utilized the defendant’s bank account and routing numbers. Scamaroni-Cintrón knowingly transferred these illegally obtained proceeds to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership and proceeds.

In addition to the money laundering conspiracy, Scamaroni-Cintrón was also charged with sixteen substantive counts of money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)(B)(i).  From approximately May 2020 through January 2021, the amount of fraudulently obtained benefits and loans associated with the defendant’s money laundering activity totaled approximately $361,683.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSA) Victor Acevedo and Manuel Muñiz Lorenzi are in charge of the prosecution of the case. If convicted, the defendant is facing 20 years in prison for each money laundering count, a fine of up to $250,000, and three years of supervised release. 

To report a COVID-19-related fraud scheme or suspicious activity, contact the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) by calling the NCDF Hotline at 1-866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On March 3, 2022, a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment charging 20 violent gang members from the municipality of Vega Alta with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, as well as firearms violations, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Puerto Rico Police Bureau (PRPB), Bayamón Strike Force, led the investigation, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

“Today’s arrests reflect the unwavering commitment of the U.S. Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute those who fuel violence in our streets through their illegal drug trafficking activities” said W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. 

The indictment alleges that from 2018, until the date of the return of the indictment, the drug trafficking organization distributed cocaine base (commonly known as “crack”), heroin, cocaine, marihuana, Oxycodone (Percocet), and Alprazolam (Xanax) within 1,000 feet of Las Violetas and El Batey Public Housing Projects, and the Sabana Hoyos Ward, and also within 1,000 feet of a real property comprising a public or private school and/or playground. The object of the conspiracy was the large-scale distribution of controlled substances in Vega Alta for significant financial gain and profit.

The 20 defendants acted in different roles to further the goals of their organization, including as leaders, enforcers, runners, sellers, lookouts and facilitators. Eight of the defendants are facing one charge of possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. All the defendants are facing a narcotics forfeiture allegation of $6,451,375.

As part of the conspiracy, the drug trafficking organization would import wholesale quantities of narcotics from the Dominican Republic, and other places, into Puerto Rico, to distribute in street- quantity amounts at their drug distribution points. The defendants and their co-conspirators established a drug distribution point that would move within different areas inside the public housing projects to avoid police detection. Some of the co-conspirators used different types of barriers and diversionary devices to avoid law enforcement detection, including fences, altered public housing amenities, dogs, and barbed wire.

Members of the organization would steal cars and use them to further their drug trafficking activities. Some members of the organization belonged to a musical group called “Los Piratas.” They would draw graffiti resembling this group near the drug points that belonged to the organization. 

The members of the gang used force, violence, and intimidation to maintain control of the areas in which they operated. They often abducted and assaulted rival drug traffickers, as well as members of their own drug trafficking organization, to intimidate and maintain control of the drug trafficking operation. Some of the members of this organization marked themselves with a tattoo with the letters LSR, which stands for the phrase “Lealtad Sin Rango” (Loyalty with no rank). This tattoo symbolized loyalty among the members of the organization.

The defendants charged are:

Marcos Pagán-Rodríguez, a.k.a. “Papin”

Miguel Santana-Avilés, a.k.a. “Macho/Machito”

John Morales-Rodríguez, a.k.a. “Gordo”

Michael Nieves-Lacend, a.k.a. “Pinto”

Christian Sifonte-Ramos, a.k.a. “Peluche”

Joseph Israel-Ramos, a.k.a. “Mena”

Alex Jomar Negrón-García

Said David Adorno-Martínez, a.k.a. “Saiid”

Raymond Santana-Avilés

William Rodríguez-Reyes, a.k.a. “Willy”

Juan Lozada-González, a.k.a. “Picu”

Luis Alfonso-Cabrera, a.k.a. “Javi”

José Rosado-Vega, a.k.a. “Manos Mongas”

José Negrón-Rodríguez, a.k.a. “Pepo”

David Rodríguez-Reyes

Steven Pacheco-Melecio

Josué Rosado-Rivera, a.k.a. “Cano/Patineta”

Ismael Figueroa-Maldonado, a.k.a. “Capo”

Gabriel Aguayo-Santana, a.k.a. “Gaby”

Mizrain López-Feliciano, a.k.a. “Mizra/Flaco”

Assistant U.S. Attorney and Chief of the Gang Section Alberto López-Rocafort, Deputy Chief of the Gang Section, AUSA Tereza Zapata-Valladares, AUSA Pedro Casablanca, and Special AUSA Cristina Caraballo are in charge of the prosecution of the case. If convicted on the drug charges, the defendants face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, and up to life in prison. If convicted of both the drug and firearms charges, the defendants face a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years, and up to life in prison.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – Today, U.S. District Judge Aida Delgado-Colón sentenced Mario Torres-Rodríguez to a term of 168 months (14 years) in prison and 10 years of supervised release for transportation of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The defendant plead guilty on August 30, 2021.

From on or about July 2017 through January 2018, the defendant paid a 15-year-old minor female to engage in illegal sexual activity with him.  The illegal activity included sex acts as well as production of child pornography.  During this same period of time, from approximately June 2017 through December 2017, the defendant would pick the minor up from school or from her parents’ business and then transport her in his car to secluded locations and engage in sexual activity.  Defendant Torres-Rodríguez bought the minor an iPhone so they could communicate via internet instant messaging apps. Torres- Rodríguez was approximately 63 years old at the time, and knew the minor’s family well.  

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) was in charge of the investigation. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Cristina Caraballo, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Cannon, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ginette Milanes prosecuted the case.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico –The United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, W. Stephen Muldrow, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge Joseph González, announced today the launch of a carjacking education and prevention campaign with the collaboration of the Puerto Rico Police Bureau’s Stolen Vehicles Section and the Puerto Rico Department of Justice.

The public service campaign aims to raise awareness about the different safety measures that the public can adopt to prevent and protect themselves from a carjacking.

“In 2019, Puerto Rico reported more than 500 carjackings and more than 3,000 stolen vehicles. Although these numbers have decreased during the past two years, law enforcement agencies continue investigating hundreds of carjackings and thousands of vehicle thefts per year,” said U.S. Attorney Muldrow. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office, along with our federal and state partners, have developed this awareness campaign to protect the public from these crimes. The tips we are sharing will contribute to your safety and wellbeing.”

“Carjackings are crimes of opportunity and our main objective with this campaign is to make people aware of behaviors which may create opportunities for these criminals to attack,” said Joseph González, FBI Special Agent in Charge. “The best approach to violent crime is prevention and the first step in prevention is education. We hope the people will heed our advice to stay alert and thus safe. A car can be replaced, your life is irreplaceable.”

“The Puerto Rico Department of Justice works strategically alongside the federal authorities to process carjacking or stolen vehicle incidents in the most effective manner. We are united by the commitment to remove criminals from the streets of our island and process them for their crimes,” said Domingo Emanuelli, Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Justice. “In this instance, we joined efforts to educate citizens on how to protect themselves and avoid becoming victims of this type of crime. The protection and wellbeing of our people are our priorities.”

“To be a victim of a carjacking is one of the worst experiences a citizen can go through. However, knowing how to handle a situation of this nature can be the best weapon to face such an event and come out unscathed,” said Inspector Carlos Nazario, Coordinator of the Criminal Investigation Centers (CIC, for its acronym in Spanish) of the Puerto Rico Police Bureau. “Therefore, in coordination with our colleagues at the federal level, we will be providing guidance to communities as well as through the media. By doing this, we can further expand the message and reach a greater number of citizens.”

The campaign focuses on the following tips to prevent carjackings:

• Park in well-lit areas and don’t leave valuable items in your vehicle
• Always be aware of your surroundings, particularly in gas stations, when arriving at your residence, and near ATMs.
• Equip your car with a GPS tracker
• Lock your doors while driving
• Don’t stop for stranded strangers along the road. Note their location and pull over in a safe place to call for help.

Carjackers look for opportunities to attack distracted victims. Some of these opportunities are at: self-serve gas stations, ATM machines, parking garages, residential driveways, desolate intersections with stop lights, and highway exit ramps.

A carjacking can happen at any time. Never confront the carjacker, your life is more important and valuable. If you are a victim or witness of a crime, please report to tips.fbi.gov or call (787) 987-6500.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – El Fiscal de los Estados Unidos para el Distrito de Puerto Rico, W. Stephen Muldrow, y el Agente Especial a Cargo del Negociado Federal de Investigaciones (FBI, por sus siglas en inglés), Joseph González, anunciaron hoy el lanzamiento de una campaña de educación y prevención de carjackings con la colaboración de la Sección de Vehículos Hurtados del Negociado de la Policía de Puerto Rico y el Departamento de Justicia de Puerto Rico.

La campaña de servicio público tiene como objetivo concienciar sobre las diferentes medidas de seguridad que la ciudadanía puede adoptar para prevenir y protegerse de un carjacking.

“En el 2019, en Puerto Rico se reportó más de 500 carjackings y más de 3,000 vehículos robados. Aunque estos números han disminuido durante los últimos dos años, las agencias de ley y orden continúan investigando cientos de carjackings y miles de robos de vehículos por año”, dijo el fiscal federal Muldrow. “La Fiscalía Federal, junto con el FBI y el Negociado de la Policía hemos desarrollado esta campaña de concientización para proteger al público de estos delitos. Los consejos que compartimos contribuirán a su seguridad y bienestar”.

“Los carjackings son crímenes de oportunidad y nuestro objetivo primario con esta campaña es crear conciencia en el pueblo sobre comportamientos que podrían crear la oportunidad para que estos criminales ataquen”, dijo Joseph González, Agente Especial a Cargo del FBI. “La mejor estrategia contra el crimen violento es la prevención y la prevención comienza con la educación. Esperamos que el público tome nuestro consejo de mantenerse alerta y seguro. Un carro se puede remplazar, su vida es irremplazable”.

“El Departamento de Justicia trabaja estratégicamente con las autoridades federales para procesar el robo de vehículos o carjackings de la manera más efectiva”, dijo Domingo Emanuelli, Secretario de Justicia. “En esta ocasión, unimos esfuerzos para aconsejar a los ciudadanos sobre cómo pueden protegerse y evitar convertirse en víctimas de este tipo de crimen. El bienestar y la protección del pueblo es nuestra prioridad”.

“Ser víctima de carjacking es una de las peores experiencias que puede atravesar un ciudadano. El saber cómo manejar una situación de esta naturaleza, puede ser la mejor arma para enfrentar ese evento y salir ileso del mismo”, dijo el Inspector Carlos Nazario, Coordinador de los Centros de Investigación Criminales (CIC) del Negociado de la Policía la Policía de Puerto Rico.  “Por ello, en coordinación con nuestros colegas a nivel federal estaremos brindando orientación en las comunidades y a través de los medios. De este modo, podremos multiplicar el mensaje y llegar a una mayor cantidad de ciudadanos”.

La campaña se concentra en los siguientes consejos para prevenir los carjackings:

• Estacione en áreas bien alumbradas y no deje artículos valiosos en su vehículo.
• Esté siempre atento a su entorno, particularmente en las gasolineras, al llegar a su residencia y cerca de los cajeros automáticos.
• Equipe su vehículo con un rastreador GPS.
• Cierre las puertas y ventanas mientras conduce.
• No se detenga por extraños varados a lo largo del camino. Anote su ubicación y deténgase en un lugar seguro para pedir ayuda.

Los asaltantes buscan oportunidades para atacar a las víctimas distraídas. Algunas de las oportunidades son: en estaciones de gasolina, cajeros automáticos, garajes de estacionamiento (multi pisos), en la entrada de las residencias, intersecciones desoladas con semáforos, y rampas de salida de autopistas.

Un carjacking puede ocurrir en cualquier momento. Nunca confronte a los asaltantes, su vida es más importante y valiosa. Si es víctima o testigo de un carjacking, repórtelo a tips.fbi.gov o llame al (787) 987-6500.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Dominican drug lord Justo Germán Rosario (CPOT No. 64), also known as “Papín,” was indicted, arrested, and extradited to the United States to face drug trafficking charges filed in the District of Puerto Rico. 

“This extradition is another important step in our fight against drug trafficking and transnational organized crime,” said U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow. “Over the past years, the District or Puerto Rico has established stronger partnerships with our neighboring countries in many areas of law enforcement, including extraditions. We will continue to strengthen those partnerships.”

Rosario was the leader of a transnational criminal organization (TCO) suspected of importing thousands of kilograms of cocaine into Puerto Rico from several strategic sites within the Caribbean, to include the Dominican Republic and Sint Maarten.

On July 15, 2020, a Federal Grand Jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment against Rosario, charging him with conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States (count one). Count two of the indictment charges the defendant with importing five kilograms or more of cocaine into the United States from Venezuela, Sint Maarten, the Dominican Republic and elsewhere, from February to December 2017. 

This prosecution is part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation “Neptune Trident,” with the collaboration of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.  The OCDETF program identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF. 

The Attorney General designated Rosario as an OCDETF Consolidated Priority Organizational Target (CPOT) in 2019.  The Attorney General’s (AG) Interagency CPOT list is comprised of leaders who exercise “command and control” of the elements of the most prolific drug trafficking/money laundering organizations that have the greatest impact on the United States’ illicit drug supply.  The CPOT list represents the “most wanted” of the cartel leadership and ensures that the full capabilities of the U.S. government are focused, in a coordinated and clear manner, on a group of agreed-upon high-level targets.

Agents assigned to the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF) have been investigating Rosario’s drug trafficking organization (DTO) since 1994.

The CCSF is a multi-agency OCDETF strike force comprised of federal and state law enforcement agencies, including the DEA, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), FBI, U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS), and the U.S. Marshals Service, with the collaboration from the Puerto Rico Department of Public Safety, the Puerto Rico Police Bureau, FURA, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, and the IRS Criminal Investigation.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Max J. Pérez-Bouret, Chief of the Transnational Organized Crime Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille García. Charges were originally presented by AUSA Kelly Zenón. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with law enforcement partners in St. Maarten to secure the arrest and extradition of Rosario to the United States.

If convicted, Rosario faces a possible sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison.

OCDETF was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and is the keystone of the Department of Justice’s drug reduction strategy.  Today, OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement.  The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking organizations, transnational criminal organizations, and money laundering organizations that present a significant threat to the public safety, economic, or national security of the United States.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging psychologist Samuel Pérez-Figueroa with attempted coercion and enticement of a minor and attempted receipt of child exploitation material, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The FBI is in charge of the investigation.

According to the information contained in the indictment, from October 15, 2021, until October 27, 2021, Pérez-Figueroa used a cellular phone, as well as internet instant messaging services, to knowingly attempt to persuade, induce, entice, and coerce a fifteen-year-old female minor to engage in sexual activity. Defendant Pérez-Figueroa, using his cellular phone which had internet capabilities, attempted to receive images depicting a female minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct for which any person may be charged with a criminal offense, including the production of child pornography.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI encourage other potential victims to come forward if you have knowledge that this defendant or any other adult has engaged in this type of criminal behavior. If you or anyone you know has been the victim or a witness to this or any other federal crime, please call (787) 987-6500 or visit tips.fbi.gov. Tipsters may remain anonymous.

If convicted of all counts, Pérez-Figueroa faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years of imprisonment to life, followed by a term of supervised release of 5 years to life. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant United States Attorney and Chief of the Child Exploitation and Immigration Unit, Jenifer Y. Hernández-Vega is in charge of the prosecution of the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On January 27, 2022, Defendant Ramón Julbe-Rosa plead guilty before United States Magistrate Judge Marcos E. López to 12 counts including theft of government property, and introducing unapproved new drugs into the United States, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.

Ramón Julbe-Rosa plead guilty to defrauding the Social Security Administration and Medicare by receiving Social Security Disability Insurance Benefit payments while working.

Defendant Julbe-Rosa also plead guilty to one count of fraud against the Department of Veterans Affairs for fraudulently receiving unemployability benefits, and one count of Fraud in Connection with Major Disaster or Emergency Benefits related to Hurricane María. Julbe-Rosa applied for an SBA Disaster Loan by falsely representing that on September 20, 2017, his primary residence, damaged by Hurricane Maria was located in Morovis, Puerto Rico when he well knew that this was not his primary residence. As a result, the defendant fraudulently received $50,000.00 from SBA.

In addition, Julbe-Rosa plead guilty to Introducing into Interstate Commerce Unapproved New Drugs. Defendant Julbe-Rosa established and operated the website www.aceitedeguanabana.com through which he promoted and sold various products intended as treatments for serious medical conditions without FDA approval. Defendant Julbe-Rosa sold at least $341,242.26 worth of unapproved new drugs.

Julbe-Rosa will make restitution as follows: $57,552.00 for the Social Security Administration; $118,943.94 for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; $47,002.10 for the Medicare Program and $47,443.94 for the Small Business Administration; for a total restitution amount of $270,941.98.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office and Federal Law Enforcement partners remain vigilant in our quest to identify those corrupt individuals who by deceit and fraud attempt to illegally benefit from federal funds depriving other law-abiding citizens from much needed health benefits, disability and emergency assistance. We remain steadfast in our commitment to bring to justice unscrupulous individuals who illegally seek personal financial gain,” said United States Attorney Muldrow.

“This individual engaged in fraudulent and profitable work activity while wrongfully receiving Social Security disability benefits. Today’s guilty plea demonstrates that my office will continue to hold accountable those who defraud the Social Security Administration (SSA),” said Gail S. Ennis, Inspector General for SSA. “I thank our law enforcement partners for their investigative work. Also, I thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Vanessa Bonano for prosecuting this case.” 

“The FDA’s drug approval process ensures that patients receive safe and effective products. Evading the FDA’s authority and selling unapproved drugs to vulnerable consumers will not be tolerated,” said Special Agent in Charge Justin C. Fielder, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations, Miami Field Office. “The FDA remains fully committed to aggressively pursuing those who place profits above the health and safety of American consumers.”

“This defendant’s greedy conduct led him to defraud multiple federal agencies including VA where he stole benefits meant to help veterans who become unemployable due to their service-connected disabilities,” said Special Agent in Charge David Spilker of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General’s Southeast Field Office. “The VA OIG, along with our law enforcement partners, is dedicated to ensuring the integrity of VA’s benefits programs and services.”

“OIG remains committed to safeguarding SBA programs designed to provide vital funds to disaster victims,” said SBA OIG’s Special Agent in Charge Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite. “OIG remains committed to rooting out bad actors and protecting the integrity of SBA programs. I want to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners for their dedication and pursuit of justice.”

Ramón Julbe-Rosa faces a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This case was investigated by the Social Security Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG) with the collaboration of the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations (FDA); Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General (DHS-OIG); Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of the Inspector General (VA-OIG); and the Puerto Rico Police Bureau.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Vanessa D. Bonano from the Social Security Administration is prosecuting the case.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico– Last December, a total of 25 students from the Epifanio Fernández Vanga Elementary School and the Mariano Feliú Balseiro Middle School in Bayamón graduated from the Project LEAD school program in a ceremony held in U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.  In August of 2021, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico began a 20-week school curriculum in both schools. The curriculum focused on the legal and social consequences of juvenile crimes and included techniques to help students resolve conflicts and resist peer pressure. Assistant United States Attorney Kelly Zenón Matos was the facilitator in charge of leading the weekly sessions with the students.    

Project LEAD (Legal Enrichment and Decision-making) was established in 1993 by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in partnership with the Constitutional Rights Foundation.  Its goal is to teach children that the choices they make today can affect their lives forever. An evaluation of the program conducted by Bernadette Chi, PhD and Ellen Middaugh, M.A. of the University of California, Berkley showed that Project LEAD provides:

• Protective factors that decrease students’ propensity to become involved in negative and illegal activities.
• An increase in students’ knowledge about the legal system.
• An increase in positive dispositions, for example: Confidence in their own decision-making capacities; Attitudes about the legal system; and Attitudes about authority.

The USAO launched the program in two public schools in Loíza in December of 2020. The USAO translated the Project LEAD program into the Spanish language and tailored the curriculum to focus on situations that youth in the District of Puerto Rico are likely to encounter.  The 20-week curriculum, taught by AUSA Kelly Zenón, focuses on the social and legal consequences of juvenile crimes, such as truancy, illicit drug use, shoplifting, graffiti, animal abuse, and bullying.  Project LEAD also teaches students techniques to resolve conflicts, resist peer pressure, promote tolerance and respect for diversity, and the role of education to achieve economic stability.  Students also learn about the federal and state judicial systems, including how each operates, and the roles played by prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, and defendants in the litigation process.  The curriculum concludes with the students’ performance of a scripted mock trial, putting into practice what they have learned about the criminal justice system. 

United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico W. Stephen Muldrow stated: “We are very proud to continue this program despite the constraints imposed during the pandemic. We are grateful for the schools and the parents who trusted the USAO personnel along with other state and federal law enforcement agencies, as well as nonprofit organizations, to provide the students with the skills and experience to evaluate challenging situations and help them make good decisions.”

This Project was possible with the collaboration of many federal and state agencies. Special thanks to the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico; Federal Public Defender; PR Department of Justice; PR Department of Education, in particular, the personnel at the Bayamón Regional Office; U.S. Marshals Service; PR Police Bureau; PR Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; Administration of Juvenile Institutions; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; Anti-Bullying 10-8 In Service; and Common Cause for Paws.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal jury convicted Rafael “Raphy” Pina-Nieves today for firearms violations being a convicted felon and possession of a machinegun. The sentencing was scheduled for April 1st, 2022.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Pina-Nieves knowing that he had been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, knowingly possessed: one Glock pistol, Model 19, 9mm caliber; one Smith & Wesson, Model SD40, .40 caliber, and 526 total rounds of live ammunition, including 148 rounds of .40 caliber handgun ammunition, 123 rounds of .357 caliber handgun ammunition, 3 rounds of .45 caliber handgun ammunition, 170 rounds of .25 caliber handgun ammunition, 3 rounds of 5.7 caliber handgun ammunition, 35 rounds of 7.62 caliber rifle ammunition, 18 rounds of 7.92 caliber rifle ammunition, 1 round of 12 gauge shotgun ammunition, and 25 rounds of 9mm caliber handgun ammunition.

The Glock pistol, Model 19, 9mm caliber possessed by Pina-Nieves was a machine gun, as it was modified to shoot more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.

U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow of the District of Puerto Rico and Joseph González, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI made the announcement.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, were in charge of the investigation of the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys María L. Montañez-Concepción and José Ruiz-Santiago prosecuted the case.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Today, Colombian authorities extradited Dominican drug lord Cesar Emilio Peralta-Adamez, also known as “El Abusador,” to the United States to face drug trafficking charges filed in the District of Puerto Rico. 

“This arrest and extradition underscore the collaboration and cooperation between our law enforcement partners, as well as our commitment and resolve to combat transnational organized crime,” said U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow.  “We will continue to maximize our multi-agency efforts to bring to justice those who disregard our laws and smuggle drugs into Puerto Rico and the continental United States.” 

Peralta was the leader of a transnational criminal organization (TCO) based in the Dominican Republic. This TCO received multi-ton shipments of cocaine from Colombia and Venezuela and transported these to Puerto Rico and the continental United States.

On November 28, 2018, a Federal Grand Jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment against Peralta, charging him with conspiracy to import heroin and cocaine into the customs territory of the United States (Counts One and Two) and with distributing five kilograms or more of cocaine for purposes of unlawful importation into the United States (Count Three). 

The Indictment includes a narcotics forfeiture allegation regarding four properties and one business in the Dominican Republic controlled by Peralta:

1. Flow Gallery Lounge in Santo Domingo;

2. La Koura Club in Santo Domingo;

3. Aqua Club, in Santo Domingo;

4, Al Panino, in Santo Domingo; and

5. Peralta Investment, SA.

This prosecution is part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation Filoteao, with the collaboration of the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).  The OCDETF program identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF. 

The Attorney General designated Peralta as an OCDETF Consolidated Priority Organizational Target (CPOT) in 2017.  The Attorney General’s (AG) Interagency CPOT list is comprised of leaders who exercise “command and control” of the elements of the most prolific drug trafficking/money laundering organizations that have the greatest impact on the United States’ illicit drug supply.  The CPOT list represents the “most wanted” of the cartel leadership and ensures that the full capabilities of the U.S. government are focused, in a coordinated and clear manner, on a group of agreed-upon high-level targets.

Since 2017, the Peralta Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) has been investigated by agents assigned to the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF).  The CCSF is a multi-agency OCDETF strike force comprised of federal and state law enforcement agencies, including the DEA, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), FBI, U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS), and the U.S. Marshals Service, with the collaboration from the Puerto Rico Department of Public Safety, the Puerto Rico Police Bureau, FURA, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, and the IRS.

Peralta’s DTO was also being investigated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. On August 20, 2019, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) identified Peralta and his Drug Trafficking Organization as significant foreign narcotics traffickers pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act).

In coordination with foreign officials, Peralta was located and arrested in Cartagena, Colombia on December 2, 2019 at the request of the United States.

The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of Peralta-Adamez from Colombia. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Max J. Pérez-Bouret, Chief of the Transnational Organized Crime Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jawayria Z. Auchter.

If convicted, Peralta faces a possible sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison for all the drug trafficking charges.

OCDETF was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and is the keystone of the Department of Justice’s drug reduction strategy.  Today, OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement.  The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking organizations, transnational criminal organizations, and money laundering organizations that present a significant threat to the public safety, economic, or national security of the United States.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – The former mayor of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico, Luis Arroyo- Chiqués, pleaded guilty today in Puerto Rico to engaging in a bribery scheme in which he received cash payments in exchange for awarding a 10-year municipal contract for waste collection services.

Luis Arroyo-Chiqués, 56, was the mayor and highest-ranking government official in the municipality of Aguas Buenas from 2005 until 2016. In 2016, Arroyo-Chiqués negotiated a waste collection contract for Company A. In exchange for the 10-year waste collection contract, Arroyo-Chiqués received a monthly $5,000 kickback payment. This payment was made in cash every month beginning in 2016 and continued even after Arroyo-Chiqués left office in December 2016. The last payment occurred in June of 2021.

Arroyo-Chiqués pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to engage in a bribery scheme.  He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, and Special Agent in Charge Joseph Gonzalez of the FBI’s San Juan Field Office made the announcement. 

The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s San Juan Field Office.

Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas W. Cannon and Scott H. Anderson of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico as well as the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section are prosecuting the case.

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SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – On December 8, 2021, U.S. District Judge Francisco Besosa sentenced Jadiel Torres-Rijos to a term of 365 months (30 years and 5 months) in prison for his participation in a robbery resulting in the murder of Armando Rosado-Molina, a businessman who owned several gas stations and other commercial properties, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.

Between March 30, 2019 and March 31, 2019, Torres-Rijos and his co-defendants planned to commit a robbery at Rosado-Molina’s residence in San Lorenzo.  During the evening hours between March 31, 2019 and April 1, 2019, Torres-Rijos and his co-defendants set up surveillance near Rosado-Molina’s residence.  They were armed with a baseball bat, a weapon having the appearance of a rifle, and pepper spray.  Torres-Rijos and his co-defendants later breached the residence and encountered Rosado-Molina who tried to defend himself with a firearm he legally owned.  During a physical struggle with one of the robbers, Rosado-Molina lost control of the firearm.  He was subsequently beaten with a baseball bat, after which point he was shot and killed.

Torres-Rijos and his co-defendants, all of whom have already pleaded guilty and are pending sentencing, took over $20,000 from Rosado-Molina’s residence, and two motor vehicles.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to bringing those who commit acts of violence to justice,” said U.S. Attorney Muldrow. “The imposition of a 365-month sentence sends a loud and clear message that violent offenders will be held accountable for their crimes.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was in charge of the investigation, and Assistant United States Attorney Alexander Alum prosecuted the case.

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WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice announced that it has awarded more than $17.5 million in grants to support the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program. Funding will support efforts across the country to address violent crime, including the gun violence that is often at its core. The Puerto Rico Public Housing Authority was awarded $151,223 to administer PSN grant funds in the District of Puerto Rico.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), part of the department’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP), will administer the 88 grant awards, which are being made to designated fiscal agents to support local PSN projects that work in partnership with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices.

“This latest Project Safe Neighborhoods grant is critical to addressing the violent crime threatening cities and towns all across our country,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “Ensuring the safety of all Americans is the highest priority for the Department of Justice, but when it comes to violent crime, there is not a one-size-fits-all solution. We have to work closely with local public safety agencies as well as community organizations to craft individual strategies unique to each community’s needs. Programs like Project Safe Neighborhoods and the funding it provides allow us to do just that.”

“In the District of Puerto Rico, we continue to increase the collaboration between law enforcement, state agencies, community organizations and our communities to be able to prevent and reduce violent crime,” said W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. “Protecting our communities from violence is a top priority and we remain fully committed and engaged with our partners to make Puerto Rico safer.”

Grant funds will support law enforcement operations with the goal of reducing drug trafficking and violent crimes in Puerto Rico’s most vulnerable and underserved communities. Grant funds will also support community engagement initiatives to build stronger relationships of trust between those communities and law enforcement. With approval from BJA, the Fiscal Agent will begin the process of making subawards for PSN grant projects.

“Investing in our communities, supporting victims and building a justice system that both keeps people safe and earns their trust – these are mutually reinforcing goals that stand at the heart of Project Safe Neighborhoods,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Amy L. Solomon for OJP. “The Office of Justice Programs is pleased to join with our U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, and with jurisdictions across the country, as we work together to meet the challenges of crime and violence and achieve our shared aspirations of public safety and community trust.”

In May 2021, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced a new effort to reduce violent crime, including the gun violence that is often at its core. Integral to that effort was the reinvigoration of PSN, a two-decade old evidence-based and community-oriented program focused on reducing violent crime. The updated PSN approach, outlined in the department’s Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Violent Crime issued by Deputy Attorney General Monaco, is guided by four key principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities and measuring the results of our efforts. The fundamental goal is to reduce violent crime, not simply to increase the number of arrests or prosecutions.

This fall, U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the country have enhanced their violent crime reduction efforts to ensure alignment with the department’s comprehensive violent crime reduction strategy. U.S. Attorneys’ Offices have engaged in outreach to law enforcement and other agencies and organizations serving communities to identify the most significant drivers of violence in their districts. Working together with a broad coalition of stakeholders, the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices are addressing the most pressing violent crime issues in their district to make our neighborhoods safer for all.

PSN programs are led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in collaboration with local public safety agencies, community stakeholders and other agencies and organizations that work to reduce violent crime.

For a list of all grantees, please visit: https://www.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh241/files/media/document/FY21-Project-Safe-Neighborhoods-Awards.pdf

In addition to the grant listed above and other grants previously announced, in recent weeks the Department of Justice has awarded the following additional grants to entities and organizations in Puerto Rico:

1. Puerto Rico Police Bureau: $150,000 for the PRPB Crisis Response Training Program

2. Puerto Rico Forensic Science Institute: $296,966 for the Puerto Rico 2021 Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grant Program

3. Guara Bi, Inc. in partnership with the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections (PRDC): $899,264 for the Second Chance Act Puerto Rico Treatment and Recovery

4. Puerto Rico Institute of Forensic Sciences: $635,846 for the DNA Capacity Enhancement for Backlog Reduction (CEBR) Program

5. Puerto Rico Department of Justice: $37,015 for the JRJ Student Loan Repayment Program

6. Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation: $221,382 for the PR Department of Correction and Rehabilitation Residential Substance Abuse Program

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The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, advance racial equity in the administration of justice, assist victims and enhance the rule of law. More information about OJP and its components can be found at  www.ojp.gov.
 

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO –The mayor of Guaynabo was arrested today on charges of conspiracy, soliciting a bribe, and extortion. In a separate operation, the executive assistant to the mayor of Trujillo Alto was arrested today on charges of conspiracy, soliciting a bribe, and extortion.

“The constituents of these defendants entrusted them with serving their communities with honesty and integrity -- instead they participated in the alleged illegal schemes and used their positions for personal gain,” said W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. “Public officials who fail to faithfully discharge the duties of their office, and those who conspire with them, will be investigated, prosecuted, and punished for their actions.”

The indictment against Ángel Pérez-Otero, Mayor of Guaynabo, alleges that he was involved in a bribery conspiracy in which, from late 2019 through May 2021, he received and accepted $5,000 cash payments on a regular basis from Individual A. In exchange for these payments, the mayor agreed to obtain and retain contracts for Company A (a construction company) and ensured that Company A’s invoices were promptly paid. The indictment alleges that Individual A regularly met in secret with Pérez-Otero to pay cash bribes and kickbacks to Pérez-Otero.

“As I have said before, we will not allow this kind of behavior to go unpunished. Public Corruption is one of the FBI’s top priorities and today’s arrests highlight the FBI’s commitment to hold accountable those who violate the people’s trust,” said Joseph González, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Puerto Rico. “I can’t stress enough how crucial cooperation from the public is to the developments of these cases and therefore, anyone with information on public corruption schemes is highly encouraged to report it. As always, I’d like to thank our local state and federal partners for their contributions to this case and their continued support to the FBI mission.”

A second indictment returned yesterday alleges that beginning in or around June of 2017, Radamés Benítez-Cardona, a government official and agent of Trujillo Alto, enriched himself by accepting bribes and kickbacks from Individual A and Individual B in exchange for securing municipal contracts for Company A as opportunities arose. The indictment alleges that Individual B negotiated a bribe and kickback scheme with defendant Benítez-Cardona on behalf of Individual A. The scheme required Individual A to pay a $0.75 per house monthly kickback to defendant Benítez-Cardona in connection with Trujillo Alto municipal contract 2018-000004 awarded to Company A for trash pick-up. The monthly kickback amounted to approximately $17,250 for 23,000 houses. Individual B also gave Benítez-Cardona an up-front payment of approximately $200,000 on behalf of Individual A to ensure that Company A received the waste disposal contract with the Municipality of Trujillo Alto.

These investigations were conducted by the FBI’s San Juan Field Office. The cases are being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Ryan R. Crosswell of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott H. Anderson and Nicholas W. Cannon of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – Today, at the request of the United States Department of Justice, U.S. District Chief Judge Raúl Arias-Marxuach unsealed Informations and Plea Agreements for Oscar Santamaría-Torres and Raymond Rodríguez-Santos, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.  Copies of the pertinent documents are attached to this press release.  The public is reminded that if they have information regarding other criminal activity, they should contact the FBI at 787-987-6500.

The cases are being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Ryan R. Crosswell of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott H. Anderson and Nicholas W. Cannon of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico.  The investigations are being conducted by the FBI’s San Juan Field Office.

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A mayor pleaded guilty yesterday in Puerto Rico to engaging in a bribery scheme in which he received cash payments in exchange for awarding municipal contracts to a particular company (Company A). Relatedly, a Puerto Rico contractor was arrested today for allegedly paying bribes and kickbacks to the mayor.

Felix Delgado-Montalvo, 40, was the mayor of and highest-ranking government official in the municipality of Cataño. Delgado-Montalvo resigned his position as mayor on Tuesday. According to court documents, Delgado-Montalvo unjustly enriched himself by accepting bribes, including cash payments from a particular person, whose business, Company A, would then benefit by being rewarded municipal contracts, including a contract worth nearly $50,000. As part of his plea agreement, Delgado-Montalvo agreed to forfeit $105,820 as proceeds of his illegal conduct.

Relatedly, Mario Villegas-Vargas, 42, of Gurabo, who owned an asphalt and paving company in Puerto Rico, was indicted for allegedly paying kickbacks and bribes to Delgado-Montalvo in exchange for valuable municipal contracts. According to the indictment, beginning in or around June 2017, Villegas-Vargas paid kickbacks and bribes in exchange for Delgado-Montalvo exerting his influence on municipal officials in Cataño, resulting in Villegas-Vargas’s business receiving over $9.9 million in municipal contracts.

Delgado-Montalvo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to solicit and accept bribes. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 8, 2022, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Chief Judge Raúl M. Arias-Marxuach for the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Villegas-Vargas is charged with conspiracy to pay bribes, bribery, and use of an interstate facility in aid of racketeering. If convicted of all counts, Villegas-Vargas faces a maximum total penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico, and Acting Assistant Director Jay Greenberg of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division made the announcement. 

The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s San Juan Field Office. 

The cases are being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Ryan R. Crosswell of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott H. Anderson and Nicholas W. Cannon of U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and Villegas-Vargas is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – A mayor pleaded guilty yesterday in Puerto Rico on a criminal charge related to his involvement in a bribery conspiracy in which he received weekly cash payments in exchange for awarding municipal contracts to “Company A.” In a separate indictment, a businessman was arrested today on criminal charges related to his alleged involvement in a scheme to bribe the mayor.

Félix Delgado-Montalvo, 40, was the mayor and highest-ranking government official in the municipality of Cataño.  According to court documents, Delgado-Montalvo unjustly enriched himself by accepting things of value, including cash payments, from “Person A,” whose business, Company A, would then benefit by being awarded municipal contracts.

Delgado-Montalvo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy.  He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 8, 2022, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

A separate indictment returned yesterday, alleges that beginning in or around June of 2017, Mario Villegas-Vargas, 42, of Gurabo, who owned an asphalt and paving company in Puerto Rico with “Individual B,” paid kickbacks and bribes to Delgado-Montalvo. In exchange for those payments, Delgado-Montalvo exerted his influence on municipal officials in Cataño to ensure that Villegas-Vargas’s business was awarded municipal contracts.   The indictment alleges that Villegas-Vargas’s bribe payments and his efforts to conceal those payments resulted in his business being awarded over $9.9 million in municipal contracts in Cataño.  

Villegas-Vargas is charged with one count of conspiracy, one count of federal program bribery, and one count of use of an interstate facility in aid of racketeering. If convicted, Villegas-Vargas faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

“These investigations are not over,” said W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. “Today’s announcement makes clear that the citizens of the District of Puerto Rico expect their public officials to act with honesty and integrity, and not for personal gain. I would like to thank the dedicated efforts and support of the FBI and the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section in these cases.”

“Public corruption takes resources away from those who need it most and into the pockets of those who are sworn to serve the people. This behavior hurts the people’s trust in our institutions and undermines the work of honest officials who genuinely want to make a difference,” said Joseph González, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Puerto Rico. “This is why we will not allow this kind of behavior to go unpunished. There is still much work to be done and I want to thank our local partners for their assistance in this case and continued support of the FBI mission.”

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, and Special Agent in Charge Joseph Gonzalez of the FBI’s San Juan Field Office made the announcement. 

The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s San Juan Field Office.  Assistant United States Attorneys Scott H. Anderson and Nicholas W. Cannon of United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico, and Trial Attorney Ryan R. Crosswell of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section, are prosecuting the cases.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice today announced more than $139 million in grant funding through the department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) COPS Hiring Program (CHP). The awards provide direct funding to 183 law enforcement agencies across the nation, allowing those agencies to hire 1,066 additional full-time law enforcement professionals. Five municipalities in the District of Puerto Rico were awarded funding totaling $5,320,807.

“We are committed to providing police departments with the resources needed to help ensure community safety and build community trust,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The grants we are announcing today will enable law enforcement agencies across the country to hire more than 1,000 additional officers to support vitally important community oriented policing programs.”

“These funds will help law enforcement develop and implement strategies to increase public safety,” said W. Stephen Muldrow, U. S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. “In addition to the CHP funds going to five municipalities, the Puerto Rico Mental Health and Anti-Addiction Services Administration (ASSMCA) received an award of $1,171,200 through the Bureau of Justice Assistance Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program for the Puerto Rico Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. In October, Casa Protegida Julia De Burgos was granted $475,000 for Transitional Housing, a program from the Office on Violence Against Women. These grants allow recipients to respond to the diverse needs within our District by streamlining access to federal resources for those communities in need.”

The following municipalities in Puerto Rico received awards under the CHP: Naranjito, Sabana Grande, San Lorenzo, Toa Alta, and Yabucoa. The awards were divided as follows:

• Naranjito – $84,446
• Sabana Grande - $626,724
• San Lorenzo - $1,154,074
• Toa Alta - $1,207,023
• Yabucoa - $2,248,540

CHP is a competitive award program intended to reduce crime and advance public safety through community policing. CHP provides funds directly to law enforcement agencies to hire new or rehire additional career law enforcement officers, thereby increasing their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts. Of the 183 agencies awarded grants today, approximately half will use the funding to focus on building legitimacy and trust between law enforcement and communities; 41 agencies will seek to address high rates of gun violence; 21 will focus on other areas of violence; and 19 will focus CHP resources on combating hate and domestic extremism or supporting police-based responses to persons in crisis. The complete list of awards can be found here.

Since its creation in 1994, COPS has invested more than $14 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local and Tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of more than 135,000 officers. CHP, COPS’ flagship program, continues to be in demand today: In FY21, COPS received 590 applications requesting nearly 3,000 law enforcement positions. For FY22, President Biden has requested $537 million for CHP, an increase of $300 million.

To learn more about CHP, please visit https://cops.usdoj.gov/chp-award. For additional information about the COPS Office, please visit https://cops.usdoj.gov/. 

The COPS Office is the federal component of the Department of Justice responsible for advancing community policing nationwide. The only Department of Justice agency with policing in its name, the COPS Office was established in 1994 and has been the cornerstone of the nation’s crime fighting strategy with grants, a variety of knowledge resource products, and training and technical assistance. Through the years, the COPS Office has become the go-to organization for law enforcement agencies across the country and continues to listen to the field and provide the resources that are needed to reduce crime and build trust between law enforcement and the communities served.

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SAN JUAN, P.R. – On October 27 and 28, 2021, the Federal Grand Jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned six separate indictments charging eight (8) individuals with fraud against the Unemployment Insurance and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. These cases were investigated by various federal agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (USDOL-OIG), and the Social Security Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG), with the assistance of local law enforcement officials from the Puerto Rico Police Bureau (PRPB), the Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources, and the Puerto Rico Department of Treasury (Hacienda).

According to the indictments, the defendants engaged in schemes to defraud the Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources (Departamento del Trabajo y Recursos Humanos, “DTRH”) by submitting fraudulent applications for unemployment insurance benefits, including Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits. The false information submitted included false social security numbers and false employment information. The loss associated with these cases totals $280,868.

Under the PUA provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), a person who is a business owner, self-employed worker, independent contractor, or gig worker qualified for PUA benefits administered by the DTRH if he/she previously performed such work in Puerto Rico and was unemployed, partially unemployed, unable to work, or unavailable to work due to a COVID-19 related reason.

To obtain these federal benefits, individuals could apply online through the DTRH’s web site: ww.trabajo.pr.gov. Claimants answered various questions to establish their eligibility. Furthermore, claimants were required to provide personal identifying information, which included their name, mailing address, gender, email, phone number, social security number, and date of birth (collectively referred to as personal identification information). Moreover, claimants had to identify a qualifying occupational status and COVID-19 related reason for being out of work. Claimants could also submit several documents as evidence of their income.

If the DTRH approved the claimant’s application, the DTRH would send a check to the claimant via United States Postal Service for qualified benefits which could contain regular Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits and federal funds in the form of Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), PUA, and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) benefits.

Four indictments charge six individuals with theft of government property and mail fraud. The defendants engaged in deceptive conduct designed to fraudulently obtain multiple unemployment checks from the DTRH by using false social security numbers. The defendants received UI benefits from the DTRH via mail in the form of checks that they were not qualified or authorized to receive. The defendants negotiated the various check fraudulently obtained from the DTRH.

The defendants charged in four related indictments are:  Millisen M. Martínez-Medina, who prepared fraudulent applications; Stephanie Carrasquillo-Marquez, who fraudulently obtained $23,304; Christian Colón-Rivera, a.k.a. “El Gordo”, who fraudulently obtained $26,634; Zyllynnette Ojeda-Falcón, who fraudulently obtained $11,586; Abner Colón-Díaz, who fraudulently obtained $23,172; and Yesenia Marquez-Rivera, who fraudulently obtained $23,172.

In another indictment, defendant José Calderón-Lantigua is charged with wire fraud and money laundering. The defendant applied for PUA benefits in Massachusetts, Arizona and Michigan and obtained electronic transfers in his bank accounts in the names of other individuals. Calderón-Lantigua fraudulently obtained $43,970.

In a separate indictment defendant Emilio E. Mendoza-Aquino is charged with wire fraud and money laundering. The defendant applied for PUA benefits in Massachusetts, Arizona and Illinois and obtained electronic transfers in his bank accounts in the names of other individuals. Mendoza-Aquino fraudulently obtained $30,092. In addition, Mendoza-Aquino is facing one count of wire fraud for fraudulently obtaining a Small Business Administration loan for $98,100.

“These arrests reflect our continued resolve to investigate and prosecute those who try to exploit a national emergency to steal taxpayer-funded resources by using the global pandemic as an opportunity to steal from hardworking citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Muldrow. “We are proud to work with our law enforcement partners to hold wrongdoers accountable and to safeguard taxpayer funds.”

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (SAUSA) Vanessa D. Bonano-Rodríguez from the Social Security Administration and Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor Acevedo are in charge of the prosecution of these cases. If convicted, the defendants are facing the following sentences: 20 years of imprisonment for mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud; 10 years of imprisonment for theft of government money; 5 years of imprisonment for misuse of Social Security number; 20 years for money laundering; and a fine of up to $250,000 and three years of supervised release. 

To report a COVID-19-related fraud scheme or suspicious activity, contact the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) by calling the NCDF Hotline at 1-866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form

The indictments contain only charges and are not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Michelle Andujar-González, the president of BAJA PESO YA INC., Sahen L. Maldonado-López, the secretary, and María de Lourdes Irizarry-Rodríguez, an associate of the company, were charged and pled guilty on November 2, 2021, to participating in a mail fraud conspiracy to illegally sell weight loss products. The defendants marketed, sold, and delivered through the mail what they described as dietary supplements for weight loss but were in fact misbranded drugs containing ingredients that were not declared on the products’ labeling. W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, and Justin C. Fielder, Special Agent in Charge of the FDA, Office of Criminal Investigations Miami Field Office, announced the convictions of the defendants for their role in the scheme. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) collaborated during the investigation.

Specifically, as part of the scheme, from 2018 through May 2021, the defendants sold products which contained undeclared drugs—sibutramine, phenolphthalein, and tadalafil. The defendants purchased the products from suppliers in China and used Facebook and the BAJA PESO YA INC. website to advertise and promote the illegal products. The defendants delivered the products to their customers via mail across the United States.

The products the defendants sold included:

1. “Slimmer Extreme”, which was labeled as containing a “Thermogenic Formula” that will “Help contain appetite and hunger cravings” and “Support losing excess body fat”;
2. “Adipotrim Hardcore”, which was labeled as containing an “Original Formula” to “Reduce waist and hip size,” “Lose weight starting in one week,” “Most weight loss advanced formula,” and “Boost energy and metabolism”;
3. “Adipessum”, which was labeled as “Miracle Slimming Capsules” containing an “Advanced Formula” that “Burns Fat and Calories” and will “Boost Energy,” “Control Appetite,” “Speed Metabolism,” and “Eliminate Excess Water”; and
4. “Li Da Daidaihua,” which was labeled as “Weight Loss Capsules” “Made of Natural Herbs” and “Safe and Free of Side Effects.”

From April 2015 through July 2019, the FDA published notifications via www.fda.gov for products sold by the defendants:

FDA Notification Date

Product

FDA Lab Results

04/30/15

Li Da Daidaihua

Contained undeclared sibutramine

11/20/17

Adipessum

Contained undeclared sibutramine and phenolphthalein

01/28/19

Slimmer Extreme

Contained undeclared sibutramine and phenolphthalein

07/01/19

Lipro

Contained undeclared tadalafil

07/16/19

Reduktis Max

Contained undeclared sibutramine

Sibutramine is a Schedule IV controlled substance banned by the FDA in October 2010 because of a risk of heart problems and strokes. Sibutramine is the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Meridia, a new drug approved by FDA for marketing in 1997 for prescription treatment of obesity, and subsequently withdrawn from the United States market on December 21, 2010, after clinical data indicated sibutramine poses an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

Phenolphthalein is a chemical that is not an active ingredient in any approved drug in the United States. Phenolphthalein was used in some laxative products until 1999. The FDA no longer recognizes the drug as “safe and effective.” Studies have indicated that it presents a cancer-causing risk.

Tadalafil is the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Cialis, an FDA-approved drug used to treat erectile dysfunction (ED).

“Consumers must be able to trust that the products they buy are safe and the claims on the product’s label can be relied on,” said U.S. Attorney Muldrow. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to take action against irresponsible business owners that make unsubstantiated claims about products that can lead to serious health issues.”

“Products that claim to be dietary supplements but contain unapproved drug ingredients pose a serious risk to public health,” said Special Agent in Charge Justin C. Fielder, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Miami Field Office.  “We will continue to investigate and bring to justice those who put profits above the health and safety of U.S. consumers.” 

“Protecting the health and safety of consumers is one of HSI San Juan’s highest priorities,” said HSI Special Agent in Charge Ivan J. Arvelo. “This investigation demonstrates how law enforcement partners work jointly to investigate these criminals and bring them to justice.”

“At a time when the United States Postal Service is playing such a critical role in the nation’s supply chain, Postal Inspectors will be ever vigilant in our pursuit of criminals who use the U.S. Mail to ship counterfeit prescription drugs.  We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to prevent the conveyance of misbranded medications that can potentially cause severe injury or harm to unsuspecting consumers,” said Inspector in Charge Raymundo Marrero, Newark Division.

As part of their guilty pleas, the defendants agreed to forfeit $400,000, which were proceeds traceable to the mail fraud conspiracy. The defendants face a maximum sentence of twenty years in prison; a fine not to exceed $250,000; and a supervised release term of not more than three years.

The FDA-OCI-SJP led the investigation with the collaboration of Homeland Security Investigations and the US Postal Inspection Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Victor O. Acevedo-Hernández.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On September 23, 2021, a Federal Grand Jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned a 14-count indictment against four defendants for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to import a controlled substance, attempted importation of a controlled substance, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, laundering of monetary instruments, and engaging in monetary transactions, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The agencies in charge of the investigation are the Drug Enforcement Administration, Hormigueros Office, assisted by Homeland Security Investigations.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF. The four individuals charged were arrested on October 12 and 13, 2021, and are:

1. Ramón Antonio Vega-Ortiz, a.k.a. “Gago/Moncho,” designated by OCDETF as a Regional Priority Organization Target (RPOT);
2. Osvaldo Calderín-Pascual, a.k.a. “Cubano/Calde”;
3. Luis Almonte-Cruz, a.k.a. “Fiscal”; and
4. Reinaldo Feliciano-Troche, a.k.a. “Chano”.

The defendants conspired to coordinate and facilitate the maritime importation of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from outside the United States, including from Colombia and the Dominican Republic, into Puerto Rico, for profit. From May 2019 until the return of the indictment, the defendants employed a network of international cocaine suppliers, boat captains and crew members, recruiters, coordinators, facilitators, and loading and unloading crews to obtain, transport, and distribute cocaine.

The criminal enterprise used two primary methods to obtain the cocaine shipments. First, the drug organization recruited and paid boat captains to conduct at sea transfers of the narcotics with boats arriving from outside of the United States. Second, the organization coordinated and paid unloading or receiving crews to transport narcotics that were smuggled into Puerto Rico. Three of the defendants also conspired to launder monetary instruments to legitimize and disguise the true nature, location, source, ownership, and control of illicit proceeds derived from their drug trafficking activities. For example, the defendants laundered drug proceed by purchasing winning lottery tickets, real estate, vehicles and boats.

“Ramón Antonio Vega-Ortiz, designated as a priority target by our OCDETF program, and his organization imported large quantities of cocaine into the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Muldrow. “These arrests demonstrate the collaboration and cooperation by the Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners, and our commitment and resolve to combat transnational criminal organizations.”

Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the DEA, Caribbean Division said: “The DEA and our law enforcement partners will keep working non-stop until we find and disrupt these Transnational Criminal Organizations. Know this, you may run, but you can’t hide, we will find you!”

If found guilty, the defendants are facing narcotics and money laundering forfeiture allegations to include the forfeiture of the following real and personal property:

1. Property located at Urbanization Extensión La Rambla in Ponce;
2. Property located at Urbanization Estancias del Golf Club in Ponce;
3. Solar property in Cabo Rojo;
4. One 2014 Porsche, 911 Turbo;
5. One 2015 Acura, TLX;
6. One 2015 BMW, M4;
7. One 2021 Lamborghini, Huracan Evo;
8. One 2016 Dodge, Ram 1500;
9. One 2016 Dodge, Ram 2500;
10. One 2017 Ford, F-150;
11.  One Avanti, Center Console, 25 foot boat;
12. One Sea Star, Center Console 24 foot boat;
13. All assets held in two bank accounts;

In addition, at the time of their arrests, some defendants were found in possession of large sums of cash and high value jewelry that were also seized by law enforcement.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jawayria Z. Auchter from the Transnational Organized Section is in charge of the prosecution of the case. The defendants face a possible sentence of 10 years up to life in prison for the drug trafficking charges, up to 20 years for the money laundering charges, and up to 10 years for the monetary transaction charges.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - El 7 de octubre de 2021, las autoridades estatales y federales se reunieron en una sesión de planificación estratégica sobre los esquemas de fraude pandémico que se están investigando en todo Puerto Rico. La reunión contó con participantes de las siguientes agencias federales y estatales:

1. Fiscalía Federal de los Estados Unidos para el Distrito de Puerto Rico;

2. Departamento de Justicia de Puerto Rico;

3. Departamento de Hacienda de Puerto Rico;

4. Oficina del Inspector General de Puerto Rico;

5. Buró Federal de Investigaciones (FBI);

6. Investigaciones de Seguridad Nacional (HSI);

7. Oficina del Inspector General-Departamento de Seguridad Nacional de los Estados Unidos (DHS-OIG);

8. Negociado de la Policía de Puerto Rico;

9. Servicio de Inspección Postal de los Estados Unidos (USPIS);

10. Oficina del Inspector General del Servicio Postal de los Estados Unidos (USPIS-OIG);

11. Servicio de Rentas Internas (IRS);

12. Administración de Pequeñas Empresas (SBA);

13. Oficina del Inspector General-Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos de los Estados Unidos (HHS-OIG);

14. Administración del Seguro Social (SSA);

15. Departamento de Trabajo de Puerto Rico;

16. Servicio Secreto de Estados Unidos (USSS);

17. Oficina de Investigaciones Criminales-Administración de Drogas y Alimentos de los Estados Unidos (FDA-OIG);

18. Negociado de Investigaciones Especiales de Puerto Rico; y

19. Departamento de Seguridad Pública de Puerto Rico

Las autoridades estatales y federales en Puerto Rico están investigando los siguientes tipos de esquemas de fraude:

A. Fraude en el Programa de Protección de Cheques de Pago (PPP);

B. Fraude de pago de estímulo de la Ley Cares;

C. Fraude de asistencia por desempleo pandémico (PUA);

D. Fraude relacionado con la vacuna COVID-19; y

E. Fraude por acumulación/aumento de precios

La sesión celebrada en las oficinas del FBI en San Juan sirvió como una oportunidad para que todas las agencias de ley que investigan el fraude pandémico discutieran los diversos esquemas de fraude que ya han identificado en Puerto Rico. A lo largo del día, los participantes compartieron información sobre las investigaciones en curso y las autoridades se comprometieron a seguir cooperando y coordinando entre sí para garantizar el uso más eficiente de los recursos de investigación.

El Fiscal de los Estados Unidos para el Distrito de Puerto Rico W. Stephen Muldrow declaró, “Los últimos dos años han presentado tremendos desafíos para nuestro sistema de atención médica, nuestra fuerza laboral y nuestro bienestar colectivo. Puerto Rico, sus residentes, empresas y el gobierno son elegibles para recibir aproximadamente $ 10 mil millones de dólares en ayuda pandémica del gobierno federal. Trabajaremos incansablemente con nuestros compañeros para asegurarnos de que cualquier persona que busque obtener ganancias ilegales de esta asistencia federal rinda cuentas con todo el alcance de la ley”.

Cualquier miembro del público que tenga información sobre un plan de fraude pandémico puede proporcionar la información de forma anónima llamando al 787-987-6500 o electrónicamente a través de FBI.gov/tips.

# # #

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – U.S. District Court Judge Aida Delgado sentenced Juan Carlos Pérez-Camacho to three years’ probation for fraud and misuse of a visa in relation with a I-130, Petition for Relative Alien application, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.

According to the facts admitted during the change of plea hearing, Pérez-Camacho was a national of Colombia who had been practicing dentistry without a license in Puerto Rico since 2018. Customs and Border Protection records showed that the defendant had been continuously entering and exiting the United States as a B1/B2 visa holder, for either business or tourism purposes, since as early as 2015. On May 23, 2019, the defendant knowingly made a false statement under oath with respect to a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services application form. He stated that he had never worked in the United States without authorization and that he never violated the terms or conditions of his non-immigration status. Pérez-Camacho knew his answers were false since he had worked in 2018 and 2019 in Puerto Rico without authorization in an unlicensed dental practice.

“We are seeing an upward trend of foreign persons traveling to PR to illegally practice medicine and dentistry, and we need to be aware of these doctors and urge the community not to give them the opportunity to practice illegally in PR,” said U.S. Attorney Muldrow. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to protect the public from misbranded products, and to ensure that doctors are practicing medicine legally.”  

“The Diplomatic Security Service is firmly committed to working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigate visa fraud, especially when the health and safety our citizens are unnecessarily placed at risk,” said Walter Rios, the newly appointed Resident Agent-In-Charge of the DSS San Juan Resident Office. “Traveling to the U.S. with the purpose of illegally practicing medical professions is a growing trend and a very serious matter that DSS is addressing with the help and support of our interagency partners”.

“American patients rely on the FDA to ensure that their prescription drugs and devices are safe and effective,” said Special Agent in Charge Justin C. Fiedler, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Miami Field Office. “We will continue to investigate and bring to justice those who threaten the health of consumers by evading FDA requirements.”

“HSI San Juan is committed to protecting the well-being of our citizens. Today’s conviction highlights our dedication to work closely with our federal and local partners to bring violators to justice and guarantee public safety,” said Ivan Arvelo, Special Agent in Charge, HSI San Juan.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations, and the Department of Homeland Security. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney José Ruiz Santiago.

# # #

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Liz Ann Banchs, the owner and president of Farmacia Gabriela, Inc. was charged and pleaded guilty on September  24, 2021 to participating in a felony conspiracy to convert government property and to commit health care fraud in connection with the illegal vaccination of minors between the ages of 7 to 11 with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The announcement was made by W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico and Scott Lampert, Special Agent in Charge for the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), New York Regional Office.

From approximately May 28, 2021 through June 22, 2021, Liz Ann Banchs and employees of Farmacia Gabriela, Inc.’s pharmacy in Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico, conspired to knowingly and willfully administer the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to children 11 years old or younger and to submit corresponding Medicaid claims to MC-21. A total of twenty-four children aged 7-11 were administered the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, at full dosage, without lawful authority as a part of the conspiracy.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) COVID-19 Vaccination Program required eligible pharmacies, like Farmacia Gabriela, Inc., to comply with all requirements established by the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), including the Emergency Use Authorization “EUA” which permitted the administration of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to children aged 12 and older. Importantly, the EUA has not approved the administration of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to children 11 years old and younger. As a result, the administration of the vaccine to children aged 7-11 represents an unauthorized and unlawful administration of the vaccine. The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine batches at issue were the property of the United States government and were illegally converted without authority from the United States. Similarly, Farmacia Gabriela, Inc. was not permitted to submit claims to MC-21, the Pharmacy Benefit Manager for Medicaid in Puerto Rico, for the unlawful and unauthorized administration of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to children aged 7-11.

Banchs’ unlawful activity was identified quickly by the Puerto Rico Department of Health and the COVID-19 vaccination program at Farmacia Gabriela, Inc. was subsequently suspended. No serious medical conditions have been identified to date as a result of the illegal vaccination program and all funds received for the corresponding Medicaid billings have been voluntarily returned to the United States. In conjunction with pleading guilty, Banchs has voluntarily agreed to be excluded as a provider for Medicare, Medicaid, and all federal health care programs for a period of five years.

“Pharmacists rank among the most trusted professionals,” said U.S. Attorney Muldrow. “This individual used her special access to illegally vaccinate children under the age of 12 years old putting their health at risk. The Department of Justice will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to ensure the public receives safe and effective vaccines.”

Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert said, “HHS-OIG and our law enforcement partners are committed to helping the country get through the COVID-19 public health crisis, but the safety of our citizens comes first, especially when we are dealing with keeping children safe.  There are clear guidelines set forth by our nation’s public health agencies regarding who is eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at this time.  We will not stray from our mission to protect the public and the federal health care programs that serve them.” 

Banchs faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and three years of supervised release. 

The case was investigated by the HHS-OIG with the collaboration of the Puerto Rico Department of Health Office of Investigations, the Puerto Rico Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the Puerto Rico Department of Justice Economic Crimes Unit, the United States Food and Drug Administration, Pfizer Global Security & Compliance Division, and the MC-21 Benefit Integrity Unit. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Seth A. Erbe, Chief of the Financial Fraud and Public Corruption Section at the United States Attorney’s Office.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On September 22, 2021, a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned a four-count indictment charging Israel Hernández with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The United States Postal Inspection Service was in charge of the investigation of the case.

According to the indictment, from on or about 2017 and continuing up to August 11, 2021, in Puerto Rico and California, the defendant conspired and agreed with others to knowingly and intentionally possess with intent to distribute and distribute fentanyl, heroin, and marihuana. Members of this conspiracy acquired kilograms of fentanyl, heroin, and marihuana in California and concealed them in U.S. Postal parcels. Then they deposited these parcels into the mail and sent them to Puerto Rico. Similarly, members of the conspiracy mailed bulk cash proceeds from Puerto Rico back to California.

“Fentanyl is turning up on our streets in increasing quantities. It is also mixed with other substances, oftentimes without the knowledge of the end users of the drugs and with fatal results,” said U.S. Attorney Muldrow. “Federal law provides for particularly severe consequences when illegal drug trafficking results in death and we will aggressively prosecute those who traffic in these deadly drugs.”

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to identifying and removing dangerous substances from the mail stream to ensure the safety of our employees and the community,” said Inspector in Charge Carroll Harris of the Los Angeles Division.  “This indictment demonstrates our commitment to disrupt these criminal organizations and deliver consequences for the devastation they cause across our nation.”

If convicted, Hernández faces up to life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Vance Eaton from the U.S Postal Inspection Service is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On October 13, 2016, a Federal Grand Jury in the district of Puerto Rico returned a seven-count indictment for conspiracy to import a controlled substance, importation of a controlled substance (aiding and abetting), attempted importation, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, possession with intent to distribute (aiding and abetting), attempted possession with intent to distribute, and one count for conspiracy to launder money against Juan José De La Cruz-Morales, aka “Wandy” and five additional defendants as part of a Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF) investigation.

De La Cruz-Morales was recently arrested in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic during Operation Falcon, led by the Dominican National Directorate for Drug Control (DNCD) and the Dominican Republic Attorney General Office (PGR) with DEA support. 

“This successful extradition of De La Cruz-Morales is a reflection of years of collaboration and cooperation by the Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners who are all committed to combatting transnational criminal organizations,” said W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. “Thanks to the authorities in the Dominican Republic for their efforts in facilitating this extradition so the defendant can be held accountable and face justice for his alleged crimes.”

“DEA recognizes the extraordinary work of the DNCD and Dominican Republic authorities in attacking transnational criminal organizations which harm both our countries,” said John F. Kanig, DEA Caribbean Division Acting Special Agent in Charge. “The dismantlement of this organization has certainly cut off an important drug smuggling scheme in the Caribbean Border.  In coordination with our federal, state and foreign partners, DEA will continue to pursue strategic targets in support of our mission to provide security and protection to our citizens.”

“The Caribbean Corridor Strike Force and the Caribbean Border Interagency Group platforms foster a great degree of cooperation and transparency between federal law enforcement agencies which facilitate the investigation and prosecution of high-level targets and leaders of transnational criminal organizations such as Mr. De La Cruz-Morales,” said Ivan J. Arvelo, Special Agent in Charge for HSI San Juan. “HSI also appreciates the efforts of our great law enforcement partners in the Dominican Republic, particularly the DNCD and PGR.”

The Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF) is a multi-agency Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force group operating in the District of Puerto Rico focusing on Caribbean and South American-based Transnational Criminal Organizations involved in the maritime and air smuggling shipments of narcotics into Puerto Rico and the Continental United States and in the laundering of drug proceeds using bulk cash smuggling and sophisticated laundering activities. CCSF signatory agencies include the DEA, HSI, FBI, CGIS, USMS, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jawayria Z. Auchter from the Transnational Organized Section is in charge of the prosecution of the case. The CCSF initiated an investigation which led to the identification of De La Cruz-Morales and other targets operating in the Dominican Republic. Intelligence shared with Dominican counterparts assisted the DNCD in the developing of the successful Operation Falcon. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance in securing De La Cruz-Morales’s arrest and extradition from the Dominican Republic.  

The defendant faces a possible sentence of 10 years up to life in prison.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal indictment was unsealed today in the District of Puerto Rico charging twenty-nine defendants with racketeering—drug trafficking, money laundering, bribery, extortion, wire fraud, and murder—and firearms trafficking committed in furtherance of one of the oldest criminal enterprises in Puerto Rico, El Grupo de los 27, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. Since 1980, El Grupo de los 27, also known as Los 27, has engaged in criminal activity within and outside the prison system of the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (PR DOC) and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). On June 27, 1980, Luis Pinela-Pizarro, aka “Shino Pinela/Tio/Pai/El Viejo” and others founded Los 27. The enterprise’s primary purpose was to take control of the prisons to make money.

Los 27 made money from diverse crimes. The main sources of revenue for the enterprise were: drug trafficking in the PR DOC and the BOP; a tax they imposed on other inmates known as el incentivo when they introduced drugs into prison; and fraud and extortion through canteos. Los 27’s involvement in drug trafficking included the introduction and distribution of cocaine, heroin, marihuana, synthetic cannabinoids, Suboxone (buprenorphine/naloxone), crystal methamphetamine, alprazolam (Xanax), oxycodone (Percocet), and fentanyl. Members of Los 27 were able to introduce this contraband into the prisons with the help of corrupt PR DOC correctional officers, civilians who worked inside of the prison system, people who visited inmates, and persons who—from outside the prisons—threw drugs into the facilities (known as “pitcheos”), which were caught by members of the enterprise. Thirteen of the charged defendants were either drug suppliers or facilitators of the enterprise, some of them correctional officers, who, from outside of prison, played an instrumental role in ensuring the group’s success in the drug trade and canteos. 

The canteos were the main source of income for the enterprise. In the canteos, Los 27 members used cellphones illegally introduced into prison to obtain money from people outside of prison by threatening and lying to them. Hundreds of Los 27 members located in different prisons received cell phones from their leaders. They then called people at random and used lies and threats to obtain money. In one day, a Los 27 member could obtain thousands of dollars from the canteos.

The organization generated millions of dollars from its involvement in crime. For this reason, the indictment includes a forfeiture allegation of $40,000,000 for money the enterprise made from racketeering.

Los 27 used violence including assaults, electrocutions, and murder to maintain discipline and control over the enterprise’s criminal activities and continue generating money. Members of the enterprise and their associates were expected to follow the rules of the enterprise. Failure to follow certain rules could be punished by death. According to the information contained in the indictment, on July 26, 2010, defendant Edgardo Rondón-Correa ordered the murder of Alexis Santiago-Montañez, a/k/a “Chanfle”. Leaders punished cooperation with law enforcement and killing other Los 27 members with death to maintain and increase the power of the enterprise.

Furthermore, to maintain and increase its power, Los 27 worked with people and gangs in the free community who were associated with the enterprise. Notably, members of the enterprise and their associates engaged in firearms trafficking to make sure that the gangs outside of prison that were affiliated with Los 27 would have the weapons they needed to maintain control of their drug trafficking activities.  

The charged defendants include fourteen leaders of the enterprise and thirteen members of the enterprise’s outside-support system who acted as drug suppliers and facilitators. The defendants are:

• Luis Pinela-Pizarro, aka “Shino Pinela/Tio/Pai/El Viejo”
• Luis Soto-Solivan, aka “Joel Cabezón/Joel DLP”
• Edgardo Rondón-Correa, aka “Tribi/Pepa”
• Héctor Ramos-Rodríguez, aka “Cagari”
• Omar Bermúdez-Serrano, aka “Arrebati”
• Abimael Morales-Arvelo, aka “Abi”
• Ángel Gómez-Martínez, aka “Spaghetti”
• Juan Rodríguez-García, aka “Yito”
• Juan Peña-Delgado, aka “Mongui”
• David Torres-Cotto, aka “Coscu/Cantante”
• Javier Luciano-Cruz, aka “Coco”
• Alexander Millán, aka “Gago”
• Jeonell De Jesús-Torres, aka “Panda/El Oso”
• Irvin Torres-Meléndez, aka “Culson”
• Victor Elías-Boza, aka “Grilla”
• Jose Torres-Tañón, aka “Pajai”
• Sundry Ortiz-Brito
• Cinthia Caquías-Rodríguez
• Naomie R. Clavel-Nadal
• Grecia Salas-Cruz
• Johana Bermúdez-Rodríguez
• Stephanie Torres-Mora
• Michelle González-Roldán
• Yahaira Marrero-Santana
• Carmen Maldonado-Vázquez
• Waleska Santana-Hernández
• Carolina Torres-Tangarife
• Eddie William Pérez-Santiago
• Héctor Figueroa-Marbelt

This prosecution is the product of an FBI investigation with the collaboration of the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Internal Revenue Service, the Puerto Rico Department of the Treasury (Hacienda), the U.S. Marshals Service, the Puerto Rico Police Bureau, and the San Juan Municipal Police.  

“This indictment highlights the efforts of law enforcement authorities that targeted a large-scale prison gang involved in violent organized crime,” said W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. “Recognizing and neutralizing these organizations is vitally important, and I must commend our local, state and federal law enforcement partners for their commitment to make our communities safer.”

“Today, the FBI San Juan Division, in coordination with the New York, Tampa and Boston Field Offices, as well as our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners, disrupted a violent criminal organization which operated from various prisons and struck fear into our communities. In doing so, we have returned some measure of peace and justice to the victims of their evil schemes,” said Joseph González, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI, San Juan Division. “The most egregious aspect of these crimes was that they were actively enabled by corrupt law enforcement officers who failed to uphold their oath to the people they were sworn to serve. That is unacceptable.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor O. Acevedo-Hernández is in charge of the prosecution of the case. If convicted, the defendants face up to life in prison.

This operation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal grand jury returned two indictments charging Hitler Cintrón-Ortiz and Omar Francisco Delgado-Martínez with being felons in possession of ammunition, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.  The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is in charge of the investigation under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Robert Cekada. 

According to the Government’s allegations, Cintrón-Ortiz possessed ammunition that was recovered after a man was shot to death during the early morning hours of October 3, 2018 in Santurce.     Cintrón-Ortiz was then on supervised release for a federal sentence related to narcotics. 

The indictment against Delgado-Martínez alleges that he possessed ammunition that was recovered after the murder of a 24-year-old man.  The man was shot to death during the early morning of March 14, 2020 in the Miramar area of San Juan.  At the time, Delgado-Martínez was on supervised release after serving a federal sentence for conspiring with intent to distribute cocaine.  

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Juan Carlos Reyes and Jeanette Collazo of the Violent Crimes and National Security Section are in charge of the prosecutions of the cases.  If convicted, each defendant faces a sentence of up to ten years in prison. 

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Carlos Javier Alvelo-Cartagena with two bank robberies and a firearm offense, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. 

According to the Government’s allegations, in January 2020, Alvelo-Cartagena committed an armed robbery of an Oriental Bank branch on Betances Avenue in Bayamón.  Alvelo-Cartagena stole $1,740.  

In August 2021, Alvelo-Cartagena robbed the Parada 18 branch of Banco Popular, located inside a Walmart Store in Santurce.  Alvelo-Cartagena stole $1,501.  Police arrested Alvelo-Cartagena shortly after the robbery and recovered most of the money stolen from Banco Popular.

Assistant U.S. Attorney E. Giovannie Mercado of the Violent Crimes and National Security Section is in charge of the prosecution of the case.  The Federal Bureau of Investigation is in charge of the investigation.  If convicted, the defendant faces a sentence of up to twenty years in prison for the bank robberies. 

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Ruth Cintrón Valles with a carjacking in Río Piedras, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. 

According to the Government’s allegations, on August 15, 2021 around 9 PM, a man was driving a Ford E-350 truck at the intersection of Barbosa and Gándara Avenues in Río Piedras.  While the car was stopped, a woman later identified as Ruth Cintrón Valles opened the driver’s door, carrying what appeared to be a firearm.  The victim, fearing for his life, got out of the car.  Police found the vehicle approximately 45 minutes later and arrested Ruth Cintrón Valles.

Assistant U.S. Attorney E. Giovannie Mercado of the Violent Crimes and National Security Section is in charge of the prosecution of the case.  The Federal Bureau of Investigation is in charge of the investigation.  If convicted, the defendant faces a sentence of up to fifteen years in prison for the carjacking. 

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging Carlos J. Izquierdo-Carrero with obstruction of justice and two counts of failure to obey Captain of the Port Orders related to a boat charter business Izquierdo-Carrero operated from La Parguera in Lajas, PR, to Caracoles Bay, without the appropriate licenses to do so, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The United States Coast Guard (USCG) and Coast Guard Investigative Section (CGIS) were in charge of the investigation.

According to the Indictment, on October 28, 2019, USCG Prevention Department personnel contacted Izquierdo-Carrero, owner of Pura Vida Boat Trips, and advised him of the requirements to obtain the necessary licensing to commercially operate vessels with passengers for hire. Izquierdo-Carrero utilized various vessels as a part of Pura Vida Boat Trips, a commercial charter business, including the Bertram, the Pura Vida, and the Kaira.

On or about April 17, 2021, the USCG determined that the operation of the Bertram, the Pura Vida, and the Kaira represented a significant unsafe boating condition and environmental threat to the port and navigable waterways of the United States given Izquierdo-Carrero’s failure to comply with the applicable licensing laws and regulations for commercial charters. Izquierdo-Carrero was served with Captain of the Port Orders for his three vessels and formally warned regarding his non-compliance with the applicable regulatory and licensing requirements. Despite the warnings, Izquierdo-Carrero continued to commercially operate those three vessels, among others, without complying with the USCG Captain of the Port Orders and applicable regulations related to the safe operation of commercial charters.

On May 7, 2021, during an undercover operation, Izquierdo-Carrero, aided and abetted by others, operated commercial charters from La Parguera to Caracoles Bay, including on the Pura Vida, the Kaira, and the Mirta Iris, in violation of the USCG Captain of the Port Orders and applicable licensing regulations. Further, Izquierdo-Carrero obstructed the inspection of the Mirta Iris by instructing undercover USCG agents to lie and misrepresent that they were friends of Izquierdo-Carrero and not paying charter passengers.

“Unfortunately, Pura Vida Boat Trips is not the only company illegally operating in Puerto Rico beach and tourist areas,” said US Attorney Muldrow. “This prosecution should serve as a warning to other boat operators who are not complying with important safety and other regulations designed to protect local citizens and tourists.”

“Illegal passenger operations represent a threat to the safety of life at sea and the environment, those who continue this practice may be facing stiff fines and possible prosecution,” said Capt. Gregory H. Magee, Sector San Juan commander.  “The Coast Guard is committed to identifying and eradicating this illegal practice.  In doing so, our Sector San Juan Prevention Department will continue to work closely with our Coast Guard Investigative Service, and our partners in the U.S. Department of Justice and local and federal law enforcement to protect the people of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and our visitors from this threat.”

“Illegal charter operations pose a significant threat to our communities, they can also become a pathway to other illegal activity and must be dealt with aggressively by the maritime law enforcement community,” said Zinnia James, Coast Guard Investigative Service Southeast Region Special Agent in Charge.

Assistant U.S. Attorney María L. Montañez-Concepción of the Financial Fraud and Public Corruption Section is in charge of the prosecution of the case.  If convicted, the defendant faces up to 5 years in prison for obstruction of justice and up to 6 years in prison for failure to obey the Captain of the Port Orders, plus the imposition of a fine and supervised release.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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Un gran jurado federal en San Juan, Puerto Rico, presentó una acusación formal que acusa a Jordany Rafael Laboy García, Christian Yamaurie Rivera Otero y Anthony Steven Lobos Ruiz de delitos de odio por haber agredido a una mujer transgénero por motivos de su identidad de género. Rivera Otero y Lobos Ruiz también fueron acusados de obstrucción a la justicia.

La acusación formal alega que el 24 de febrero del 2020, Laboy García, Rivera Otero y Lobos Ruiz estaban viajando en un carro cuando reconocieron a la víctima en la orilla del camino en Toa Baja, Puerto Rico. Según consta en la acusación formal, los conspiradores reconocieron a la víctima de sus publicaciones en los medios sociales que previamente la identificaban como hombre que entró en el aseo de mujeres en un restaurante local. Tras identificarla, Laboy García, Rivera Otero y Lobos Ruiz acosaron verbalmente a la víctima. Después, los tres hombres se fueron en carro a conseguir una pistola de paintball con la cual disparar a la víctima. Los hombres volvieron posteriormente al lugar donde habían visto a la víctima y la dispararon con bolas de pintura. En los dos encuentros, los hombres usaron un teléfono celular para grabar sus acciones. Los hombres compartieron estas grabaciones con otros. Más aún, la acusación formal alega que después de la alegada agresión, Rivera Otero le indicó a Lobos Ruiz que borrara de su celular al menos una grabación de vídeo de la agresión con la pistola de paintball y acoso verbal de la víctima y que, como respuesta, lo hizo.

De ser condenados, los acusados se enfrentan a una pena máxima de 10 años de cárcel por la acusación de delito de odio, cinco años de cárcel por el cargo de confabulación y una sanción de hasta 250.000 $ por cada cargo. De ser condenados, Rivera Otero y Lobos Ruiz también se enfrentan a una pena máxima de 20 años de cárcel y una sanción de hasta 250.000 $ por el cargo de obstrucción a la justicia.

El caso está siendo investigado por la Oficina Local en San Juan del FBI. El caso está siendo procesado por la Consejera Especial para Litigios, Rose E. Gibson, y la Abogada de Litigios, Laura B. Gilson, de la División de Derechos Civiles del Departamento de Justicia, junto con el Fiscal Federal Auxiliar, José A. Contreras, de la Fiscalía Federal para el Distrito de Puerto Rico.

La acusación formal lo anunciaron la Fiscal General Auxiliar, Kristen Clarke, de la División de Derechos Civiles del Departamento de Justicia, el Fiscal Federal del Distrito de Puerto Rico, W. Stephen Muldrow y el Agente Especial Encargado de la Oficina Local del FBI en San Juan, Joseph González.

Una acusación formal es meramente un alegato y a los acusados se los considera inocentes mientas no se pruebe su culpabilidad.

WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury in San Juan, Puerto Rico, returned a three-count indictment charging Jordany Rafael Laboy García, Christian Yamaurie Rivera Otero and Anthony Steven Lobos Ruiz with hate crimes for assaulting a transgender woman because of her gender identity. Rivera Otero and Lobos Ruiz were also charged with obstruction of justice.

The indictment alleges that on Feb. 24, 2020, Laboy García, Rivera Otero and Lobos Ruiz were traveling in a car when they recognized the victim on the side of the road in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico. According to the indictment, the conspirators recognized the victim from social media posts previously identifying her as a man who entered the women’s restroom at a local restaurant. After identifying her, Laboy García, Rivera Otero and Lobos Ruiz verbally harassed the victim. The three men then drove to get a paintball gun and paintballs to be used to shoot at the victim. The men returned to the same place where they had spotted the victim and fired paintballs at her. During both encounters, the men used a cell phone to record their actions. The men then shared these recordings with others. The indictment further alleges that after the alleged assault, Rivera Otero directed Lobos Ruiz to delete at least one video recording of the paintball gun assault and verbal harassment of the victim from his cellular phone, and that Lobos Ruiz, in response, did so.

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for the hate crime charge, five years in prison for the conspiracy charge, and a fine up to $250,000 with respect to each charge. If convicted, Rivera Otero and Lobos Ruiz also face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000 for the obstruction of justice charge.

The case is being investigated by the San Juan Field Office of the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Rose E. Gibson and Trial Attorney Laura B. Gilson of the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division along with Assistant U.S. Attorney José A. Contreras of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico.

The indictment was announced by Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico and Special Agent in Charge Joseph González for the FBI’s San Juan Field Office.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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A federal grand jury in San Juan, Puerto Rico, returned a three-count indictment charging Jordany Rafael Laboy García, Christian Yamaurie Rivera Otero and Anthony Steven Lobos Ruiz with hate crimes for assaulting a transgender woman because of her gender identity. Rivera Otero and Lobos Ruiz were also charged with obstruction of justice.

The indictment alleges that on Feb. 24, 2020, Laboy García, Rivera Otero and Lobos Ruiz were traveling in a car when they recognized the victim on the side of the road in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico. According to the indictment, the conspirators recognized the victim from social media posts previously identifying her as a man who entered the women’s restroom at a local restaurant. After identifying her, Laboy García, Rivera Otero and Lobos Ruiz verbally harassed the victim. The three men then drove to get a paintball gun and paintballs to be used to shoot at the victim. The men returned to the same place where they had spotted the victim and fired paintballs at her. During both encounters, the men used a cell phone to record their actions. The men then shared these recordings with others. The indictment further alleges that after the alleged assault, Rivera Otero directed Lobos Ruiz to delete at least one video recording of the paintball gun assault and verbal harassment of the victim from his cellular phone, and that Lobos Ruiz, in response, did so.

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for the hate crime charge, five years in prison for the conspiracy charge, and a fine up to $250,000 with respect to each charge. If convicted, Rivera Otero and Lobos Ruiz also face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000 for the obstruction of justice charge.

The case is being investigated by the San Juan Field Office of the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Rose E. Gibson and Trial Attorney Laura B. Gilson of the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division along with Assistant U.S. Attorney José A. Contreras of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico.

The indictment was announced by Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico and Special Agent in Charge Joseph González for the FBI’s San Juan Field Office.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that on July 22, 2021, a federal jury convicted Jean Carlos Polaco-Hance of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and of unlawful possessing a machinegun. He faces a sentence of up to 10 years of imprisonment.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, on September 10, 2020, in San Anton Ward, Carolina,  Jean Carlos Polaco-Hance, a convicted felon, unlawfully possessed a Glock pistol, model 32C, .357 caliber that had been modified so that it was capable of firing as a machine gun.

On that date, agents from the Puerto Rico Police Bureau, Carolina Intelligence Unit were traveling on Saint Just Street in Carolina in an unmarked vehicle.  As the officers passed in front of an auto-repair shop, they noted that Polaco-Hance was staring at the officer’s vehicle while reaching into a bag in what the officers recognized as a threating gesture reaching for a weapon. 

The officers returned to the auto-repair shop to investigate.  The officers dismounted the vehicle, announced themselves as police officers and approached Polaco-Hance. As the agents approached, Polaco-Hance ran from the officers and tossed a black bag over a fence.  The officers pursued him and eventually placed Polaco-Hance under arrest. The officers recovered the bag, which contained a Glock pistol, modified to fire in fully automatic mode.  In addition, the bag contained 5 magazines and a total of 111 rounds of .357 caliber, two cellphones and $640.00 US dollars. The officers contacted agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), who investigated the case and presented it to the United States Attorney’s Office for prosecution. 

The case was investigated by the PRPB, FBI and the Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) Computer Forensic Laboratory, which assisted in the investigation of the case.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Gottfried, Chief of the Violent Crimes and National Security Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Carlos R. Cardona.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – U.S. District Court Judge Francisco A. Besosa sentenced Marcos Rivera-Ramos to 156 months (13 years) in prison and 10 years of supervised release for sexual enticement of a 14-year old girl, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.

According to the facts admitted during the change of plea hearing, the parents of the female minor reported to the FBI that their daughter received at least one image of an adult male’s penis on her Apple iPhone through the Snapchat application. The victim told her parents the image was sent to her by Rivera-Ramos, an usher at their church.

The defendant had known the victim for approximately four years. They began communicating in a group chat of people from church, but later switched to communicating privately with each other via WhatsApp. Over the last year when they were communicating on WhatsApp, the conversation turned sexual. Defendant Rivera-Ramos asked the 14-year-old girl to send him sexually explicit images and videos of herself.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was in charge of the investigation.  Assistant United States Attorney Ginette Milanes prosecuted the case.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that on July 12, 2021, a federal jury convicted Gilberto Joel Hernández Marín of unlawful possession of a machinegun. He faces a sentence of up to 10 years of imprisonment.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, on February 16, 2019, Gilberto Joel Hernández Marín, age 25 of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico unlawfully possessed a 7.62 x 39 caliber Zastava Serbia AK-47 type pistol that had been modified so that it was capable of firing as a machine gun. On that date, Hernández Marín was detained and ticketed by Trujillo Alto municipal officers because his vehicle had illegally tinted windows. During the traffic stop, the officers found that Hernández Marín was in possession of the machinegun, which was loaded with 31 rounds of 7.62 x 39 caliber ammunition. The officers contacted agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”), who investigated the case and presented it to the United States Attorney’s Office for Prosecution.

United States Attorney Muldrow indicated that, “The United States Attorney’s Office and its law enforcement partners will remain vigilant and aggressive in the investigation and prosecution of individuals in possession of illegal firearms. These types of violations are among the highest of priorities for the Department of Justice, and we will work tirelessly to remove illegal weapons from the streets.” 

“I would like to thank the municipal officers of Trujillo Alto who working with ATF and the USAO, were able to successfully prosecute this individual. Working together, we can further increase public safety and send the message to the public that possession of illegal guns will not be tolerated in Puerto Rico,” said Robert Cekada, Special Agent in Charge of ATF, Miami Field Division.

The case was investigated by ATF. It was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Vance Eaton and Assistant U.S. Attorney Pedro R. Casablanca of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Gang Section.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal grand jury returned a six-count indictment charging Juan Tyler López Gerraughty with six counts related to three armed robberies, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. 

According to the Government’s allegations, on November 4, 2020, Juan Tyler López Gerraughty and other individuals drove a truck into an Econo store in Cataño and threatened a security guard at gunpoint.  They then loaded the ATM onto the truck and drove away. 

On November 13, López Gerraughty and other individuals crashed a truck through the garage window of a Toral gas station in Cataño.  After threatening an employee at gunpoint, the group tied a chain around the ATM and dragged it out of the store with the truck. 

On November 28, López Gerraughty and other individuals crashed a truck through the entrance of a Toral gas station in Vega Baja.  After threatening an employee with a gun, the group loaded the ATM onto the truck before driving away.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Juan Carlos Reyes of the Violent Crimes and National Security Section is in charge of the prosecution of the case.  The Federal Bureau of Investigation is in charge of the investigation.  If convicted, the defendant faces a mandatory minimum of 21 years in prison.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – U.S. District Court Judge Pedro A. Delgado Hernández sentenced Luis Enrique Valentín-Ramírez to 27 years in prison for a carjacking murder committed on September 13, 2019, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.

According to the facts admitted during the change of plea hearing, the victim was spending time with the defendant and another individual during the early morning of September 13.  The defendant and another individual beat the victim and took his car.  They left the scene, only to return a few minutes later.  They lifted the dazed victim into the car and drove him to an industrial zone in Aguadilla, where they beat him to death.  Defendant and his cohort then went to a gas station, where they bought two bottles of lighter fluid, which they used to burn the car.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was in charge of the investigation.  Assistant United States Attorney Juan Carlos Reyes of the Violent Crimes and National Security Section prosecuted the case.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal grand jury in San Juan, Puerto Rico returned the following indictments, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.

Luis X. De Leon-Gonzalez was charged with Possession of Child Pornography and Receipt of Exploitation Material in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252A(a)(5)(B) and 2252A(a)(A) and (B) and faces a mandatory minimum of 5 years of in prison for the receipt charge. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daynelle Alvarez is prosecuting the case.  The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations.

Roberto Gonzalez-Medina was charged with violations Distribution and Possession of Child Exploitation Material in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252A(a)(2)(A) (Distribution of; 2252 A(a)(5)(B) and (b)(2)  and faces a mandatory minimum of 5 years in prison if convicted of the Distribution charge. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Michele Colon is the prosecutor assigned to the case.   Homeland Security Investigations is the lead investigative agency.

Efrain Orama-Acevedo was charged with Attempted Coercion and Enticement of a Minor, Attempted Receipt of Child Pornography, and Attempted Transfer of Obscene Material to a Minor in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2422(b), 2252 (a)(2); and 1470(b)(2) respectively. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison for the Coercion and Enticement Count. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jenifer Hernandez is prosecuting the case. The investigation was handled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office also filed a criminal complaint against Emmanuel Romero De Jesus charging him with Sexual Exploitation of a Child (Production of Child Exploitation Material), Coercion and Enticement of a Minor, Receipt of Child Sexual Exploitation Material, Transfer of Obscene Material and Interstate Threatening Communications in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2251 (a), 2422(b), 2252(a)(2), 1470 and 875(d) respectively. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison for the Production of Child Exploitation Material Count. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas W. Cannon is prosecuting the case. The investigation was handled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment charging Luis Christian Montalvo-García with conspiracy to engage in illegal firearms trafficking and to receive firearms illegally from outside of this district, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. 

According to the Government’s allegations, between March and June 2021, Luis Christian Montalvo-García conspired to receive firearms from states including Texas and Pennsylvania, to sell them in Puerto Rico.  Among other events:

• In March 2021, Montalvo-García communicated with a co-conspirator regarding the mailing of a package containing a firearm from Texas.
• In April 2021, Montalvo-García received a communication regarding a rifle, handgun, and accessories for sale for $2,700.  In response to a request from a co-conspirator, Montalvo-García sent a photo of a rifle, a magazine, and AK-47 accessories.  Montalvo-García also received a message regarding a rifle with a price of $1,500. 
• In May 2021, Montalvo-García communicated regarding various models of Glock pistols with magazines and accessories.
• In June 2021, a co-conspirator in Pennsylvania sent via U.S. Priority Mail Express two packages with a firearm frame, a firearm slide, five magazines and firearm accessories to Montalvo-García in Puerto Rico, which Montalvo-García attempted to take possession of.

Montalvo-García is not a licensed importer or dealer in firearms.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Luis Valentin of the Violent Crimes and National Security Section is in charge of the prosecution of the case.  The United States Postal Inspectors and the Department of Homeland Security are jointly in charge of the investigation.  If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum of five years in prison. 

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – U.S. District Court Judge Francisco A. Besosa sentenced Argenis Bruzón-Velázquez to life in prison for the carjacking murder of David Dubique on April 14, 2017, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.

According to the facts admitted during the change of plea hearing, on the evening of April 14, 2017, Argenis Bruzón-Velázquez, Candy Cedeño-González, Tatiana Yari Giusti Saldaña, Ariel González-Almestica, and an adult male whose alias is “Cachete” were socializing at the El Prado Public Housing Project, and discussed the possibility of committing a robbery.  Giusti-Saldaña mentioned that she knew people in Condado could have money.  Bruzón-Velázquez, his co-defendants and Cachete then traveled to Condado in González-Almestica’s vehicle, a red Dodge Caliber. Upon arriving in Condado, Cedeño-González and Giusti-Saldaña exited the Dodge Caliber and went to the Stop and Go bar located on Magdalena Avenue.

At the Stop and Go bar, Cachete and Bruzón-Velázquez remained in the vicinity, observing as Cedeño-Gonzalez and Giusti-Saldaña spoke to several men. At one point, Cedeño-Gonzalez and Giusti-Saldaña walked with one of the men with whom they had been speaking—David Dubique—across the street from the Stop and Go bar. Bruzón-Velázquez followed Giusti-Saldaña and Dubique.  Once Giusti-Saldaña and Dubique arrived at Dubique’s vehicle, a Ford Transit, Bruzón-Velázquez and Cachete forced Dubique into his vehicle at gunpoint, departed the area in the Ford Transit and drove to a desolate area in Aguas Buenas.  There, Bruzón-Velázquez forced Dubique to exit the Ford Transit and shot him multiple times with a .40 caliber Glock pistol.            

After shooting and killing Dubique, Bruzón-Velázquez drove the Ford Transit to a location a short distance away; Cachete rode in the Ford Transit with Bruzón-Velázquez.  González-Almestica, Giusti-Saldaña, and Cedeño-González followed the Ford Transit inside the Dodge Caliber; then abandoned the Ford Transit and returned to the El Prado Public Housing Project in the Dodge Caliber.

In a separate incident, on June 21, 2017, Bruzón-Velázquez brandished a rifle and another individual brandished a handgun while attempting to dispossess an adult male of his Mercedes Benz in Barrio San Antonio de Caguas.  When confronted with an armed individual who attempted to intervene, Bruzón-Velázquez discharged the rifle he was carrying.  Bruzón-Velázquez and the individual he was with then fled the scene. Judge Besosa imposed a 15-year sentence to be served consecutively to the life sentence he imposed in connection with the incident involving the murder of Dubique.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was in charge of the investigation.  Assistant United States Attorneys Alexander Alum and Jenifer Y. Hernández prosecuted the case. 

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