Puerto Rico lawyer accused of planning to bribe judge

The lawyer who represents a convicted drug dealer has been arrested and accused of seeking to raise up to US $ 3 million in order to secure his client's release through bribes.

Puerto Rico Gary Ives

Ramon Negron Colon represented Jose Figueroa Agosto, once known as the 'Pablo Escobar of the Caribbean', a drug dealer who was sentenced to 208 years in prison for murder. 

The indictment does not say where the money came from although it is said to be the proceeds of drug trafficking. There is no suggestion that a judge was actually offered a bribe, according to the Huffington Post. The drug dealer escaped from Puerto Rico three years after he began his prison sentence. However, he was re-arrested in 2010 when he returned and was accused of shipping cocaine from Columbia through Puerto Rico and into the US. 

Cash

Negron told his client that he would seek a new trial, according to the indictment. He also said that such a trial would be forthcoming if the presiding judge were offered $300,000 in cash. 

A legal broker, William Barreto Ortiz, was also indicted and is accused of lying to the FBI.

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