With case against him dropped, senator vows legal action against accusers

By The Star Staff

Following the recent resolution of a judicial process against him in his favor, Guayama District Sen. Albert Torres Berríos said Thursday that he will take legal action against those who accused him.

The Office of the Special Independent Prosecutor Panel (OPFEI by its Spanish initials) decided to drop the case after undue interference by the lead witness, known as “John Peseta,” with the parents of the judge assigned to the case was revealed.

“What that person did is a crime,” Torres Berríos said in an interview with Red Informativa. “This is very simple. They, the employee, always put their economic interest before that of the country.”

“I spent two intense years, two years where my legislative work had been affected, since, by not having committees, it had been tarnished by two people, which yesterday was validated, that all they have done is lie,” he added. “What they have done is try to extort me from the first day.”

Torres Berríos reiterated that the aforementioned “employee” and her husband tried to destroy his political and personal career from day one.

“They went with an agenda from day one, that was all they talked about,” the senator said.

The scandal broke out when a witness from the PFEI went to the home of the parents of the judge in charge of the case, Nerisvel Durán Guzmán, to try to unduly influence the process. As a result of that incident, the independent special prosecutor, Zulma Fúster Troche, chose to drop the case.

Torres Berríos did not appear at the San Juan Judicial Center earlier this week due to his convalescence from COVID-19 and a problem with his summons.