After a 22-year criminal career and almost three years behind bars, the Dominican drug trafficker César Emilio Peralta, aka El Abusador, has reached a final destination that could lead to a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
This Monday, a guilty plea agreement was made public between Peralta and the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, in which “El Abusador” pleads responsible for the second charge of three filed against him: the traffic to the United States 450 kilograms of cocaine.
The crime, the document indicates, occurred “from or around and between 2007 and June 2017”, using as a base “the countries of Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Colombia, the Netherlands Antilles”.
According to press reports from last year, on November 28, 2018, a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico indicted Peralta for conspiracy to import heroin and cocaine into the customs territory of the United States (counts one and two) and for distributing five kilograms or more of cocaine for the purpose of illegal importation into the United States (count three).
Up to 25 years of prison
The plea agreement, established on November 4 of this yearstipulates for the charge of trafficking 450 kilograms of cocaine a sentence of between 235 months (20 years) and 293 months (25 years), this under the criteria of the federal sentencing guidelines that are established based on the seriousness of the crime and criminal records.
And it is that despite the document indicating that “the maximum legal penalty for the crime charged in the second charge of the accusation is a sentence of prison which cannot be less than ten years nor more than life imprisonment”, the guideline must consider whether there is a criminal record. In the case of Peralta, it is established that “the parties do not stipulate any category of criminal record for the accused.”
So even though the federal crime level for cocaine trafficking is high, in this specific case 38, in the absence of criminal records (previous convictions) life imprisonment is not contemplated. This is based on the criteria established in the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which includes 43 levels of crime and six categories of criminal records.
It is also specified that “the defendant understands that the sentence to be imposed will be determined solely by the United States district judge. The United States cannot and has not made any promises or representations as to what sentence the defendant will receive.”
Regarding the sentence, the agreement explains that “the defendant acknowledges that there is a mandatory minimum of 120 months (10 years). “The parties agree that any recommendation by either party for a penalty of prison below or above the stipulated sentencing recommendation shall constitute a material breach of the Plea Agreement.”
120
Months in prison, ten years, is the mandatory minimum sentence agreed between Peralta and the US authorities.
In addition, it is indicated that for the charge in which he pleads guilty “a fine that does not exceed US$10,000,000; and a term of supervised release of at least 5 years.”
The agreement states that Peralta must pay a special monetary assessment (Special Monetary Assessment, SMA) of $100 for each charge. This payment is applied to all those convicted of federal crimes in the United States and the money goes to the Fund for Victims of Crime (Crime Victim Fund).
No probation or appeal
The accepted guilt leaves César Emilio Peralta no possibility of parole “and that the imposition of the defendant’s sentence cannot be suspended.”
He also waived the appeal. “The defendant waives the right to appeal any aspect of the trial and sentence in this case, including, but not limited to, the term of imprisonment or probation, restitution, fines, forfeiture, and the term and conditions of supervised release.” .
dismissal of charges
The judicial authorities of the United States, in the District of Puerto Rico, also specify in the document that “at sentencing, if there are pending charges and if the defendant (César Emilio Peralta) complies with the terms of this plea agreement, the United States will proceed to dismiss the remaining charges of the indictment pending against the defendant in this case.”
At the time of his arrest in Cartagena, Colombia, on December 2, 2019, the Puerto Rican authorities indicated that César Emilio Peralta (El Abusador) began drug trafficking in 1997 and that he was arrested in the Dominican Republic in the years 2000, 2008 and 2015.
The guilty plea details that Peralta “was the leader of a prolific drug trafficking organization (DTO) based in the Dominican Republic with partners in other countries, including, but not limited to, Mexico, Colombia, Haiti, Spain, and Venezuela. ” and that “he commanded stash houses and the movement of controlled substances via speedboats and cargo containers to the United States, including Puerto Rico.” Also that he and his group “were responsible for the importation of cocaine and heroin, among other controlled substances, into the United States.”
It is indicated that there are recordings, in which in March 2017 Peralta detailed “the weekly traffic of 20 kilograms of cocaine to Puerto Rico by plane. Also another from June of that year in which he points out “a maritime shipment of narcotics sent from the Dominican Republic that was received by a ship from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico to pick up the narcotics.” In another recording from that same month, he “described various drug trafficking routes from Antigua, Barbados, St. Thomas, St. Martin, and Fajardo, Puerto Rico.”
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Year in which the Puerto Rican authorities indicate that César Emilio Peralta (El Abusador) began in the world of drug trafficking.
1997
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Three charges are filed against Peralta in Puerto Rico: conspiracy to import heroin and cocaine into the United States (counts one and two) and to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine for purposes of illegal importation into the United States (count three). .
November 28, 2018
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Peralta is seen in photos posted online at a resort in the eastern part of the Dominican Republic.
August 16-18, 2019
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In a press conference, the then Attorney General of the Republic, Jean Alain Rodríguez, and the now former president of the National Directorate for Drug Control (DNCD), Félix Alburquerque Comprés, defined Peralta as the most powerful drug lord in the country, with a 20-year history of drug trafficking between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. They reported the arrest of five leaders of the Peralta network and he was declared a fugitive.
August 20, 2019
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César Emilio Peralta was captured in the Bocagrande sector in Cartagena, Colombia, in an operation in which agents “from the DEA, the FBI and the Dominican Republic Police” participated, according to Colombian press reports.
December 2, 2019
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Peralta’s lawyer, Joaquín Pérez, reported that the then president of Colombia, Iván Duque, had signed the extradition of his client and that he would be taken to Puerto Rico, where the charges against him were filed.
October 14, 2021
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Peralta is extradited from Colombia to Puerto Rico.
December 22, 2021
