| In Honduras Drug Trial US
Questions 1st Cooperator Leo Rivera Met
Fuentes With Guns
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
March 10 – The Honduras
narco-trafficking trial of US
v. Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez
began on the morning of March
9. Inner City Press was
there.
Inner
City Press
live tweeted
the first
opening
argument here.
And then the
first witness,
DEA Agent
Brian
Fairbanks, to
the end of the
day, here.
Geovanny
Fuentes was sitting at the
defense table, with two U.S.
Marshals citing six feet
behind him. The prosecutors
were the table in front,
closest to the judge.
U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York Judge P.
Kevin Castel has been asked
about docuemnts still sealed
in the record, and not yet
provided. On the morning of
March 10, the first
cooperating witness: Leonel
Rivera. Inner City Press live
tweeted, here:
Next witness
is... Devis Lionel Rivera.
AUSA: May Mr
Rivera remove his face mask
while he is in the box?
Judge Castel:
Yes. Rivera: Buenas tardes,
senor.
AUSA: Mr. Rivera,
where to you live right now?
Leo Rivera: En prision en
Estados Unidos, senor. AUSA:
How did you arrive in the US?
Leo Rivera: Me entrege a los
Estados Unidos en 2015, senor
Leo Rivera:
Era un narco-traficante,
senior, cocaina del sector de
Colon.
AUSA: What's your
mandatory minimum for your
guilty plea? Leo Rivera: Vida
mas trenta anos, senor.
AUSA: What
was the name of the group you
worked with? Leo Rivera: Los
Cachiros. AUSA: Did you commit
murders? How many? Leo Rivera:
78, senior.
AUSA: Do you know
Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez? Leo
Rivera: Si, senor. AUSA:
What was your role in the
Cachiros? Leo Rivera: Lider,
senior. Con Javier Rivera, mi
hermano.
AUSA: How much
would a typical boatload of
cocaine be? Leo Rivera: 1500
hasta 3000 kilos, senor. AUSA:
Did you buy businesses with
the drug money? Leo Rivera:
Construction company, we got
contracts with the government
of Honduras.
AUSA: How
would you use the companies to
launder drug money? Leo
Rivera: We invested in castle,
in growing rice - then came
the cosecha, we sold it to
legal business for checks. The
money was laundered.
AUSA: Did
the Cachiros used weapons?
What kinds? Leo Rivera: Armas
de guerra. AR-15s, AK-47s,
machine guns, grenade
launchers, revolvers, among
others
AUSA: Why was
your relative called Metro?
Leo Rivera: Because he hung
around with the metropolitan
police. AUSA: Involved in
drugs? Leo Rivera: Yes. AUSA:
Who did he say had been in
Miami, and worked with
authorities in Honduras on
drugs? Rivera: Geovanny.
AUSA: Where did
you meet Geovanny? Leo Rivera:
First at a disco in Choloma.
Then in a gas station I had,
called Brisas del Mar. AUSA:
Who was with you? Leo Rivera:
Just Metro and the defendant.
AUSA: Did the
defendant have anything? Leo
Rivera: A Glock and two little
rifles. Cut-down AR-15s. They
were on the rear seat.
AUSA: What did
you have? Leo Rivera: A nine
millimeter 93-R, sir. AUSA:
Were there other armed men?
Leo Rivera: Yes. Each of us
had security.
AUSA: What did
the defendant tell you? Leo
Rivera: That he had good
contacts in the police, that
he could arrange security for
any cocaine I wanted to move.
AUSA: Did you
make you a proposal? Leo
Rivera: Yes. Judge Castel:
We'll break here & leave
you in suspense
The case is US v. Diaz, 15-cr-379
(Castel).
***
Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
exclusive bonus material on our Patreon
page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 20047, Dag
Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2021 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|
,
