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A4 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 25 april 2024
Veteran DEA agent sentenced to 4 years for leaking intelligence in

Miami bribery conspiracy

By LARRY NEUMEISTER, JIM access normally privileged The conspiracy relied on
MUSTIAN and JOSHUA communications between middlemen, including
GOODMAN Recio and the attorneys as Costanzo’s father, himself a
Associated Press part of what they described retired and decorated DEA
NEW YORK (AP) — A fed- as an “ongoing” investiga- agent who prosecutors said
eral judge Wednesday tion. lied to the FBI. Prosecutors
sentenced a longtime U.S. The DEA did not respond said Costanzo and Recio
Drug Enforcement Adminis- to a request for comment. also used sham invoices and
tration agent to four years in Costanzo’s sentencing a company listing its address
prison for leaking DEA intel- came less than two weeks as a UPS store to disguise the
ligence to defense lawyers after a federal jury in Buf- bribe payments while delet-
in a $100,000 bribery scheme falo, New York, convicted ing hundreds of messages
that prosecutors said jeop- another veteran DEA agent and calls to a burner phone.
ardized drug cases and the of obstruction of justice and In requesting a sentence
lives of confidential infor- lying to federal agents in a of probation, Costanzo ob-
mants. This image provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern sprawling corruption case. tained letters of support from
John Costanzo Jr. was found District of New York on Oct. 26, 2023 shows John Costanzo Jr. Over the course of a year, several former colleagues,
guilty last year of bribery Associated Press Recio repeatedly asked including three current DEA
and honest-services wire Prosecutors urged the judge for.” Costanzo to query names in agents and supervisors who
fraud, joining a growing list to sentence Costanzo to at Much of the case turned a confidential DEA database described him as a dedicat-
of DEA agents convicted of least seven years behind on text messages and wire- to keep abreast of federal ed public servant, generous
federal crimes. Another for- bars, saying he abused the tapped phone calls be- investigations that would friend and expert in illicit fi-
mer DEA supervisor, Manny tradecraft he mastered tween Costanzo and Recio, interest his new employers. nance.
Recio, is scheduled to be as a narcotics investiga- who remained close after The two also discussed the Costanzo’s attorney said his
sentenced next month in tor steeped in the world Recio retired from DEA in timing of high-profile arrests client’s only ambition was to
the same case.U.S. District of money laundering. He 2018 and began working and the exact date in 2019 follow in the footsteps of his
Court Judge Paul Oetken, in worked in supervisory roles as a private investigator for when prosecutors planned father, John Costanzo Sr.,
handing down his sentence, in Miami and later at DEA Miami defense lawyers. to bring charges against a retired DEA agent who
noted that the 49-year-old headquarters outside Wash- Prosecutors allege that at- businessman Alex Saab, a served for years in Italy and
Costanzo was “especially ington, D.C. torneys David Macey and top criminal target in Ven- who is now battling pancre-
culpable” as a supervisor “Costanzo acted purely out Luis Guerra bankrolled the ezuela and suspected bag atic cancer.
because he “knew what he of greed,” prosecutors wrote bribery scheme and used man for the country’s presi- “Not being present for his
was doing was wrong.” in court papers. “He used his the leaked information to dent, Nicolas Maduro. hero’s waning days and final
Costanzo, addressing the network, connections and approach new clients fac- In exchange, prosecutors months would break John
judge before sentencing, ex- skills to hold himself above ing federal drug charges. said, Recio secretly funneled forever,” defense lawyer
pressed regret for his actions. the law and make money Macey and Guerra have bribes to Costanzo, including Marc Mukasey argued in a
“This is my cross to bear,” he for leaking law enforcement not been charged but pros- plane tickets and a $50,000 pre-sentencing memo. “That
said. “I will try to find a silver secrets, undermining every- ecutors in January asked down payment on a condo is a punishment he does not
lining in all of this.” thing he purported to stand the court for permission to in suburban Coral Gables. deserve.” q

Dairy cattle must be tested for bird flu before moving between

states, agriculture officials say

By JONEL ALECCIA Wednesday as they try to had detected inactivat- with the U.S. Department Two people in the U.S. both
AP Health Writer track and control the grow- ed remnants of the virus, of Agriculture’s Animal and farmworkers have been in-
Dairy cattle moving be- ing outbreak. known as Type A H5N1, in Plant Health Inspection Ser- fected with bird flu since the
tween states must be test- The federal order was an- samples taken from milk vice. “We believe we can outbreak began. Health of-
ed for the bird flu virus, U.S. nounced one day after during processing and from do tens of thousands of ficials said 23 people have
agriculture officials said health officials said they store shelves. They stressed tests a day,” he told report- been tested for bird flu to
that such remnants pose ers. Until now, testing had date and 44 people ex-
no known risk to people or been done voluntarily and posed to infected animals
the milk supply. only in cows with symp- are being monitored.
“The risk to humans remains toms. Avian influenza was Officials said that sam-
low,” said Dawn O’Connell first detected in dairy cows ples from a cow in Kansas
of the federal Administra- in March and has been showed that the virus could
tion for Strategic Prepared- found in nearly three dozen be adapting to more ani-
ness and Response. herds in eight states, ac- mals and they detected
The new order, which cording to USDA. It’s an es- H5N1 virus in the lung tis-
goes into effect Monday, calation of an ongoing out- sue of a dairy cow that
requires every lactating break of highly pathogenic had been culled and sent
cow to be tested and post avian influenza spread by to slaughter. So far, offi-
a negative result before wild birds. Since the start of cials with the Centers for
moving to a new state. It the outbreak, more than 90 Disease Control and Pre-
will help the agency un- million birds in U.S. commer- vention have seen no signs
derstand how the virus is cial flocks have either died that the virus is changing
Cows are seen at a dairy in California, Nov. 23, 2016. spreading, said Michael from the virus or been killed to be more transmissible to
Associated Press
Watson, an administrator to try to prevent spread. people.q