12 Individuals Indicted And Arrested For Introducing Narcoticts Into State Prisons

San Juan, Puerto Rico – Twelve individuals, including six state correctional officers, one female correctional nurse, one civilian correctional employee, one state court marshal and three other individuals were charged in nine separate indictments for attempting to introduce heroin into state prisons, announced U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez.  The investigation revealed that corrupt correctional employees were abusing their positions to infiltrate narcotics and other contraband into state penitentiaries in Puerto Rico.

According to the indictments, the defendants attempted to distribute heroin by introducing it into state penitentiaries.  The defendants and their roles in the indictments are:

1. Lina Michelle Narvàez-Arroyo, relative of inmate
2. William Joel Medina, correctional officer
3. Yolanda Santiago, friend of Narvàez-Arroyo
4. Ángel López Reverón, correctional guard
5. Héctor Ruiz-Torres, employee of canteen Correctional Services
6. Alberto Martínez-Moreno, correctional officer
7. Edwin Sànchez-Velàzquez, correctional officer
8. Victoria Rivera, correctional nurse
9. Luis Lebron-Lebron, correctional officer
10. Jessica Moreno, correctional officer
11. Joel Torres-Velàzquez, State Court Marshal
12. Antonio Romàn-Medina, friend of William Joel Medina

“Corrupt public employees undermine the fabric of our nation’s security, our overall safety, the public trust and confidence in those chosen to protect and serve,” said Rosa Emilia Rodríguez Vélez, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.  “The corruption and negligence exemplified in this case cannot and will not be tolerated. We will continue to investigate and prosecute these type of schemes.”
Carlos Cases, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI said: “Corrupt public officials undermine our overall safety, the public trust, and confidence in the Puerto Rico Government system. The FBI will continue to fight corruption in Puerto Rico”.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Héctor Ramírez-Carbó.  The case was investigated by Office of Internal Investigations of the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections, Puerto Rico Bureau of Special Investigations, commonly referred to as NIE, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Puerto Rico Police Department.

The maximum penalties for these offenses are 20 years of imprisonment. An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until convicted through due process of law.