SAN JUAN, P.R. - The Honorable Gustavo A. Gelpí, US District Court Chief Judge, sentenced Juan Batista Johnson-Debel and Noel De León-De La Rosa, who were convicted after a jury trial of destroying controlled substances while on board a boat subject to U.S. jurisdiction, in violation of Title 46, United States Code, Section 70503(a)(2), announced Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The defendants were found guilty on June 24, 2019.
According to witness statements during trial, U.S. Customs and Border Protection spotted the two defendants with bales of suspected cocaine on board their boat traveling from the Dominican Republic into Puerto Rico. However, before U.S Customs and Border Protection were able to seize the vessel and defendants, the bales were thrown overboard and destroyed.
At sentencing, Judge Gelpí found that the evidence showed that defendants were engaged in drug trafficking and destroyed that evidence. Defendant Johnson received a sentence of 60 months’ imprisonment, while Defendant De León received a sentence of 72 months’ imprisonment for destroying the evidence and entering Puerto Rico illegally. The Judge imposed an additional 6-month term of imprisonment on Defendant De León for illegally re-entering Puerto Rico, which was a violation of his terms of supervised release on a previous federal case.
“We congratulate the prosecution team for taking on this challenging case and securing convictions against these two defendants," said U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez. “We will continue to secure our borders from drug traffickers."
The case was tried by AUSA David T. Henek and Senior Litigation Counsel José Ruiz-Santiago.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
