NEW YORK (AP) — A federal jury convicted two longtime U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration supervisors Wednesday of leaking confidential info to protection attorneys as a part of a bribery conspiracy that prosecutors say imperiled high-profile instances and the lives of abroad drug informants.
The Manhattan jury discovered John Costanzo Jr. and Manny Recio responsible of bribery and wire fraud after a two-week trial that solid a harsh mild on DEA’s dealing with of presidency secrets and techniques, together with testimony about one breach so delicate the decide closed the courtroom to keep away from what he referred to as “severe diplomatic repercussions.”
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“It’s about greed and corruption,” Assistant U.S. Legal professional Emily Deininger stated in her closing argument. “What they have been doing was unsuitable, and so they knew it.”
Recio and Costanzo be a part of a rising record of greater than a dozen DEA brokers convicted of federal fees lately, together with one who laundered cash for Colombian cartels. One other is scheduled to face trial in January on fees he took $250,000 in bribes to guard the Mafia in Buffalo, New York.
The DEA declined to touch upon the decision.
A lot of the case turned on textual content messages and wiretapped cellphone calls between the longtime lawmen, who remained shut after Recio retired from DEA in 2018 and started recruiting shoppers as a personal investigator for Miami protection legal professionals.
Corrupt DEA brokers stand accused and convicted of leaking excessive profile information to protection attorneys in trade for funds.
Recio repeatedly requested Costanzo to question names in a confidential DEA database to maintain abreast of federal investigations that might curiosity his new employers. The 2 additionally mentioned the timing of high-profile arrests and the precise date in 2019 when prosecutors deliberate to convey fees towards businessman Alex Saab, a high felony goal in Venezuela and suspected bag man for the nation’s president, Nicolas Maduro.
In trade, prosecutors stated, Recio secretly funneled $73,000 in purchases to Costanzo, together with aircraft tickets and a down fee on his condominium in suburban Coral Gables, Florida.
The scheme relied on middlemen, together with Costanzo’s father, himself a retired and adorned DEA agent who prosecutors stated lied to the FBI. Prosecutors stated Costanzo and Recio additionally used sham invoices and an organization itemizing its handle as a UPS retailer to disguise the bribe funds whereas deleting lots of of messages and calls to a burner cellphone.
“Again and again they hid and lied,” Deininger stated. “Recio and Costanzo cared a lot in regards to the cash that they put folks and investigations in danger.”
Recio and Costanzo didn’t testify however have lengthy denied the costs. Their attorneys stated prosecutors failed to attach the funds to the leaks, portraying the investigation as speculative and sloppy.
“That may be a outstanding failure of proof,” protection lawyer Marc Mukasey informed jurors in his summation. “In a case about bribery and conspiracy, nobody testified about bribery or conspiracy.”
The protection additionally attacked the credibility of key witness Jorge Hernández, a profession felony and snitch who first implicated Recio and wore a wire for the FBI to file him. Hernández, a beefy, bald-headed determine identified by the Spanish nickname Boliche – bowling ball – stated he had been blacklisted as an informant by the DEA and can be executed inside “two hours” ought to he ever return to his native Colombia.
Recio and Costanzo confirmed little emotion as they listened to the decision discovering them responsible on 4 felony counts every.
“It was a tough case as a result of all of us belief regulation enforcement,” the jury forewoman, talking on the situation of anonymity, informed The Related Press. “However as a public official, the general public expects a sure customary of habits.”
The proceedings have been notable for different outstanding figures who averted fees, together with Miami protection legal professionals Luis Guerra and David Macey, who have been talked about repeatedly but not referred to as as witnesses.
The attorneys valued advance discover of federal arrests as they courted deep-pocketed shoppers, normally with the intention of brokering a cooperation settlement with the federal government. Prosecutors informed jurors the “crooked attorneys” had “paid handsomely for DEA secrets and techniques” however they haven’t defined why neither was indicted.
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Guerra and Macey haven’t responded to repeated requests for remark. Nor has the Florida Bar, which lists each attorneys as members in good standing.
“This trial revealed the darkish underbelly of the drug protection bar,” stated Bonnie Klapper, a former federal prosecutor who now defends accused cash launderers and drug traffickers. “If the proof is as was introduced throughout the trial, it’s stunning that the attorneys themselves weren’t charged.”
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