Abel Nazario reached a plea deal with prosecutors to plead guilty

Defense of the former mayor of Yacou Abel Nazario It notified the federal court that it had reached an agreement “in principle” with federal prosecutors to plead guilty.

In the petition filed by the opposing counsel, Maria DominguezHe indicated that the agreement was “reached this week”.

He pointed out that last Monday the public ministry “offered the defendant a proposed plea agreement, and the undersigned attorney was unable to review it with the defendant as I was out of jurisdiction due to a business meeting in Miami, Florida.”

The motion did not specify whether the indictment included theft or bribery related to programs with federal funds or any change in the indictment.

Dominguez appealed to a federal judge Francis Kiss A plea hearing should be scheduled for this week or next week.

Other defendants are identified in the report as former special assistant to the mayor, Edwin Torres Gutierrez; Claribel Rodríguez Canchani, Human Resources Director of the Municipality; Humberto Bacon Sanchez, Kelvin Ortiz Vagarra, Ramon Martez Negron, Juan Rosario Nunez and Eric Rondon Rodriguez.

Meanwhile, in a separate motion, Rosario Nunez told the court yesterday that he had reached an agreement with the prosecution to plead guilty.

Earlier, Ortiz Vegarra and Rondón Rodríguez entered pleas of guilty.

During a hearing last June, Bacon Sanchez’s attorney, Anita Hill, told the judge she was negotiating a plea deal with the federal prosecutor’s office.

Other lawyers were busy finalizing the evaluation of the evidence that the public ministry had finally provided that month.

On November 6, 2019, Nazario Quinones and seven others were indicted by a federal grand jury that issued arrest warrants executed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

At the time, the federal prosecutor’s office explained in a press release that while Nazario Quinones was mayor of Yaco – with the help of Torres Gutierrez and Rodríguez Canzani – he conspired to pay municipal funds to other co-defendants to serve in the defendant’s senatorial office. Propaganda. Nazario Quinones.

“Another purpose was for the irregular employees to provide assistance to the campaigns of other political parties, whose support Nazario Quiñones needed to win the senatorial election and then become president of the Senate,” the statement by US Attorney Stephen Muldrow added. .

Offenders face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine not to exceed $250,000.

In a separate case, in March 2020, a jury of six men and six women found Nazario Quinones guilty of falsifying documents and wire fraud in 28 counts. .