Feds seek yearlong prison sentence against former governor

Former Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced

By THE STAR STAFF

In a sentencing memorandum, the U.S. Attorney’s Office recommends a 12-month prison sentence for former Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced for accepting political contributions from a foreign national.

The sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 15.

Vázquez Garced became the first governor to be convicted of a crime after pleading guilty in August to a misdemeanor charge of accepting a political donation from a foreigner.

The governor reached an agreement that replaced the original charges against her for conspiracy, bribery and wire fraud with a single count of accepting pledges of contributions from a foreigner to a political campaign.

The plea bargaining agreement with prosecutors had stated that Vázquez Garced would be sentenced to six months to one year of probation.

The charge against Vázquez Garced goes back to 2022, when federal authorities arrested her and charged her with federal bribery charges related to the financing of her 2020 electoral campaign.

Banker Julio Herrera Velutini and former FB) agent Mark Rossini were also arrested in relation to the bribery scheme.

Vázquez Garced had been charged with a count of conspiracy, a count of bribery and honest services wire fraud. Herrera Velutini was accused of two counts of conspiracy, two counts of bribery, and two counts of honest service wire fraud, while Rossini was charged with conspiracy, bribery and honest services wire fraud.

According to the original indictment, from December 2019 through June 2020, Vázquez Garced allegedly engaged in a bribery scheme with various individuals, including Herrera Velutini, Frances Díaz, Rossini and John Blakeman to finance Vázquez Garced’s 2020 gubernatorial election campaign.

According to the indictment, beginning in 2019, Herrera Velutini’s bank was the subject of an examination by Puerto Rico’s Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (OCIF), the regulatory agency that oversees financial institutions operating in Puerto Rico. Through intermediaries, Herrera Velutini and Rossini allegedly promised to provide funding to support Vázquez Garced’s 2020 gubernatorial election campaign in exchange for Vázquez Garced terminating OCIF Commissioner George Richard Joyner and appointing a new commissioner of Herrera Velutini’s choosing. That did not happen.

In June of this year, three years after the indictments, the parties informed the court that an agreement had been brokered in Washington, D.C. to avoid going to trial. The defense lawyer attributed the plea agreement to their own investigation, which found that the charges had been unfounded, the lawyer said.