Criminal Defense Attorney Ramón Negrón-Colón Sentenced To 71 Months In Prison For Money Laundering

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Today, Ramón M. Negrón-Colón, aka “Monchito,” was sentenced to 71 months (five years and eleven months) in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering, announced Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. On April 4, 2014, the defendant pled guilty before United States District Court Senior Judge Juan Pérez-Giménez.

Ramón M. Negrón-Colón is an attorney licensed to practice law in Puerto Rico.  Negrón-Colón represented José D. Figueroa-Agosto, aka “Junior Cápsula,” in judicial proceedings in Commonwealth courts. During the Fall of 1995, Figueroa-Agosto was convicted and sentenced to a prison term of 208 years in the Court of First Instance, San Juan, Puerto Rico. On November of 1999, Figueroa-Agosto utilized false documents to escape from a Commonwealth of Puerto Rico correctional facility. He remained a fugitive for over a decade until he was arrested on federal drug trafficking charges on July 18, 2010.

The indictment alleged that the object of the conspiracy was to nullify Figueroa-Agosto’s 208-year Commonwealth of Puerto Rico imprisonment term through illegal payments made with the proceeds of Figueroa-Agosto’s narcotics trafficking.

The indictment further alleged that beginning on a date unknown, but not later than 2007, until August 2013, Negrón-Colón and co-defendant Barreto-Ortiz, knowingly conducted and attempted to conduct financial transactions affecting interstate commerce, which transactions involved the proceeds of drug trafficking.

In late 2007, defendant Negrón-Colón indicated that the total cost of obtaining the nullification of Figueroa Agosto’s conviction and sentence would be between $2,500,000.00 and $3,000,000.00 in order to funnel illegal payments to public officials of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.  Negrón-Colón received a few payments from individuals on different occasions in order to further the goals of the conspiracy.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The case was prosecuted by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Henwood.