Ex-Puerto Rico mayor pleads guilty to multi-pronged bribery scheme

A former Puerto Rico mayor has pleaded guilty to accepting thousands of dollars in bribes from two companies in exchange for securing municipal contracts, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Reinaldo Vargas-Rodriguez, a member of the New Progressive Party who served as the mayor of Humacao in Puerto Rico, has formally admitted to the bribery scheme, which lasted from January 2021 to July 2021 and involved a construction company and a trash collection company, the prosecutors announced. The New Progressive Party is traditionally considered more conservative than its counterpart, called the Popular Democratic Party.

Vargas-Rodriguez was charged with accepting bribes in early May 2022, when a federal grand jury in San Juan returned an indictment for conspiracy, soliciting bribes, and extortion. Javier García-Pérez, the Mayor of Aguas Buenas, was separately hit with the same charges, according to the authorities. Javier García-Pérez allegedly took in at least $32,000 in cash payments from August 2020 through September 2021 from the owners of the companies.

At that time, the prosecution accused Vargas-Rodriguez of receiving at least $15,000 in cash payments between March 18, 2021, and April 15, 2021. If Vargas-Rodriguez had been convicted on all counts, he could have faced up to 20 years in prison, according to the government.

Vargas-Rodriguez ultimately pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to solicit and accept bribes, for which he could face up to five years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 14, according to prosecutors.