SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – U.S. District Judge Francisco A. Besosa sentenced Rafael “Raphy” Pina-Nieves to a term of 41months in prison, 3 years of supervised release, 200 hours of community service and a fine of one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) for firearms violations being a convicted felon, and possession of a machinegun. Pina-Nieves was found guilty by a federal jury on December 22, 2021.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Pina-Nieves knowing that he had been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, knowingly possessed: one Glock pistol, Model 19, 9mm caliber; one Smith & Wesson, Model SD40, .40 caliber, and 526 total rounds of live ammunition, including 148 rounds of .40 caliber handgun ammunition, 123 rounds of .357 caliber handgun ammunition, 3 rounds of .45 caliber handgun ammunition, 170 rounds of .25 caliber handgun ammunition, 3 rounds of 5.7 caliber handgun ammunition, 35 rounds of 7.62 caliber rifle ammunition, 18 rounds of 7.92 caliber rifle ammunition, 1 round of 12 gauge shotgun ammunition, and 25 rounds of 9mm caliber handgun ammunition.
The Glock pistol, Model 19, 9mm caliber possessed by Pina-Nieves was a machine gun, as it was modified to shoot more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.
U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow of the District of Puerto Rico, Joseph González, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI, and Matthew D. Line, Special Agent in Charge of the IRS-C.I. made the announcement.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, were in charge of the investigation of the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys María L. Montañez-Concepción and José Ruiz-Santiago prosecuted the case.
Following his sentencing hearing in Puerto Rico, the43-year-old veteran music executive and producer, who founded Pina Records in 1996 and manages Daddy Yankee, Plan B and Natti Natasha surrendered voluntarily to U.S. Marshals and will be serving his time in Florida. At the end of his term, he will be placed under supervised release for three years. Pina did not send an official statement but just minutes after being sentenced, he posted on his Instagram account a photo of himself with the caption: “I love you all. I’ll see you soon. Thank you for your prayers!”
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