The Second Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice rejected the appeals filed by the defense of María Isabel de los Milagros Torres Castellanos.
With this decision, he definitively confirmed the sentence of the Court of Appeal of the National District, which imposed five years of confinement in a psychiatric center supervised by the judge executing the sentence, after verifying his participation in the corruption network led by Juan Alexis Medina Sánchez, dismantled through Operation Antipulpo.
The ruling ratified the non-imputability of Torres Castellanos, previously established by the Seventh Investigative Court of the National District in August 2022. This condition, based on her mental health, exempted her from direct criminal liability. However, she was convicted of money laundering in association with other people, in violation of articles 3.2 and 9.2 of Law 155-17 on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing.
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The judges also confirmed the confiscation, in favor of the Dominican State, of an apartment located in Brisas de Guavaberry, within the Guavaberry Resort & Country Club, in San Pedro de Macorís. This property, valued at ten million pesos by the Public Ministry in February 2023.
The defense lawyer, Francisco Manzano, sought the total acquittal of Torres Castellanos. However, the Supreme Court of Justice considered that the previous decisions were properly supported by evidence.
Likewise, the Supreme Court ruled that all parties were exempt from paying criminal costs, while civil costs were compensated between them.
Torres Castellanos was identified as a partner of Editorama, SA, and a member of the governing body of companies syndicated in the money laundering network headed by Alexis Medina Sánchez. The judges stressed that “within his lucidity, he actively participated in the operations of these entities.”
Juan Alexis Medina Sánchez is, along with his sister Carmen Magalys, the main defendant in Operation Antipulpo. Both are currently facing a substantive trial in the Second Collegiate Court of the National District, accused along with others accused of defrauding the State of more than RD$5,000 million.
