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u.s. news Diabierna 25 Juni 2021

Judge threatens to toss DEA agent's plea in corruption case

(AP) — A federal judge Wednes- national accounts he and associates
day threatened to throw out the controlled.
guilty plea of a veteran U.S. nar-
cotics agent who conspired with The case is the latest black eye for the
a Colombian cartel money laun- DEA, which has seen repeated cases of
derer — an unexpected twist that agent misconduct in recent years. Just
could derail one of the most egre- last week, longtime DEA agent Chad
gious misconduct cases in the his- Scott was taken into federal custody
tory of the U.S. Drug Enforce- after a jury in New Orleans convicted
ment Administration. him of taking property from criminal
suspects, adding to an earlier convic-
U.S. District Judge Charlene Ed- tion on corruption charges.
wards Honeywell was expected to
sentence the disgraced agent, Jose But it’s unclear what lessons the DEA
I. Irizarry, but refused to do so over has learned from Irizarry’s scheme
what she called a “totally unaccept- and whether other agents assigned
able” legal dispute. to the Miami field office where his
criminal activity began were involved.
“I have never seen anything like this,” His guilty plea also leaves many un- to know the source of these funds referred to the alleged co-conspirator
Honeywell said, postponing the sen- answered questions about the level and where these funds were going.” in court on Wednesday as a longtime
tencing indefinitely. “I’m not even of supervision he received during The case could also have long-lasting U.S. government informant named
sure at this point I’m going to accept his career, in which he had been en- implications on the DEA’s under- “Diego.”
this plea.” trusted with the government’s use of cover money-laundering operations.
front companies, shell bank accounts Irizarry was accused of sharing sen- Marin has not been charged. A U.S.
The heated hearing in Tampa fed- and couriers to combat international sitive law enforcement information attorney who has represented Marin
eral court came nine months after drug trafficking. with co-conspirators, including a in the past declined to comment.
Irizarry admitted parlaying his ex- Colombian customs official and an
pertise in money laundering into a Irizarry’s defense attorney contended alleged drug trafficker and money Before he resigned in 2018, Irizarry’s
life of luxury that prosecutors said in recent court filings that the ac- launderer. ostentatious habits and tales of rau-
was bankrolled by millions of dollars counts in question amounted to a cous yacht parties had become leg-
he diverted from DEA control. The profit-producing “slush fund” for The Colombian official, Omar Am- endary among DEA agents. Begin-
spoils included a $30,000 Tiffany dia- official and personal travel of federal builla, was arrested in April on a U.S. ning around 2011, prosecutors said,
mond ring for his wife, luxury sports law enforcement, U.S. prosecutors warrant accusing him of transferring Irizarry used the cover of his badge to
cars and a $767,000 home in the Ca- and confidential sources. to the U.S. proceeds from the con- file false reports and direct DEA per-
ribbean resort city of Cartagena — on spiracy for the purchase of a 2017 sonnel to wire funds reserved for un-
top of residences in south Florida and “They were going to dinners, drinks Lamborghini Huracan Spyder in dercover stings to accounts in Spain,
Puerto Rico. and doing all sorts of things with this Florida. the Netherlands and elsewhere — ac-
money,” attorney Humberto Domin- counts that he controlled or were tied
At issue is a disagreement over wheth- guez said in court Wednesday. “It was The other alleged co-conspirator has to his wife and his co-conspirators.
er the money Irizarry raided from all documented.” not been identified in court filings
undercover DEA accounts amounted except as a Colombian citizen who In all, Irizarry and his informants
to a misuse of government funds, as The DEA did not respond to a re- was the target of a DEA drug traffick- handled at least $9 million in drug
Irizarry contends, or the launder- quest for comment on that claim. ing investigation before becoming proceeds that should’ve been care-
ing of drug proceeds — a more seri- the godfather to Irizarry’s twin chil- fully tracked by the DEA as part of
ous offense that could add a decade But prosecutor Joseph Palazzo ar- dren in 2015. undercover money laundering inves-
to what was already expected to be a gued that Irizarry’s actions could only tigations, prosecutors said.
lengthy prison sentence. have had one purpose regardless of U.S. law enforcement officials told
whether the international wire trans- The Associated Press last year that the The indictment details at least
Irizarry pleaded guilty last year to fers were channeled through DEA- unnamed conspirator is Diego Marin, $900,000 paid out from a single crim-
19 counts, including conspiracy to controlled accounts. describing him as Colombia’s contra- inal account opened by Irizarry and
commit money laundering and bank band king for his role helping launder an informant using the name, pass-
fraud, admitting he filed false reports “Once drug proceeds, always drug drug dollars through the importation port and Social Security number of a
and ordered DEA staff to wire money proceeds,” he said. “The defendant of containers full of electronics and third person who was unaware their
slated for undercover stings to inter- was in a better position than anyone other goods. Irizarry and his attorney identity was being stolen.

Pedestrian bridge collapses over DC highway, injuring 5

(AP) — A pedestrian sending five people to the The five people taken to the day that the mayor’s state-
bridge collapsed over a hospital. Traffic was ex- The collapse happened just hospital had non-life-threat- ment was incorrect.
highway in the nation’s pected to be snarled for before noon along Interstate ening injuries, Geldart said.
capital on Wednesday, hours. 295 in Northeast Washing- He said that the bridge was
ton. The bridge was found Chunks of concrete and oth- inspected in February and
to be in poor condition at an er debris were strewn across that a subsequent report is-
inspection just a few months the highway, and both direc- sued May 25 rated the bridge
earlier. tions of traffic were expected as being in poor condition.
to be closed at least until late He said the rating — a 4 on
Investigators believe a truck Friday. The bridge was lying a scale of 9 to 0 — marked a
struck the bridge, causing it atop the truck, which was threshold prompting a multi-
to come loose and collapse, leaking diesel fuel along the year planning process to re-
said Chris Geldart, the depu- roadway, officials said. place the bridge. The bridge
ty mayor for public safety and had previously been rated a
justice. Several other vehicles Mayor Muriel Bowser said 5 — in fair condition — in
were also involved in the col- Wednesday afternoon that April 2019.
lapse. He cautioned that the there were no recent reports
investigation was still in its of structural concerns about The Metropolitan Police De-
preliminary stages. the bridge. But Geldart said partment is leading the crash
in a statement later Wednes- investigation, Geldart said.