Geovanny Rodriguez Perez, the “Dominican Chapo,” (aka El Monstro) was sentenced to life in prison on dozens of counts of drug trafficking, murder, kidnapping, extortion, money laundering and conspiracy, after Manhattan South Federal District Court in judge Laura Taylor Swain handed down the guilty verdict.
Prosecutors say Rodriguez led one of the most feared and violent organizations of the last decades, with ramifications beyond the United States, with a style typical of the bloodiest cartels.
He was accused of having ordered 20 murders in New York and the Dominican Republic, executing those he considered his business rivals.
The prosecution alleged that members of the group, called “Rodríguez Enterprise,” sold large quantities of marijuana, transported and laundered millions of dollars, obstructing justice and committing perjury, as well as weapons crimes.
Rodríguez was previously indicted in the “Operation Green Poison,” an investigation of several law enforcement agencies coordinated by ICE and the Homeland Security Dept., and his arrest was first announced in October 2010.
Rodríguez pleaded guilty on June 7, 2016 to charges of organized crime, conspiracy, including nine murders and 10 attempted murders in the United States and Dominican Republic.
“By his own admission, Manuel Geovanny Rodríguez Pérez is a cold-blooded murderer who’s responsible for the execution of nine people and attacks against the lives of 10 more,” the federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
It adds that today Rodríguez received a life sentence behind bars, which will ensure that he doesn’t represent any additional danger for the people of New York.
Additionally, RODRIGUEZ-PEREZ was ordered to pay $25 million as a forfeiture penalty, which is the approximate amount of gross proceeds received by RODRIGUEZ-PEREZ derived from racketeering activities, properties in New York, Florida, and the Dominican Republic, and cash and jewelry seized by law enforcement officers.
RODRIGUEZ-PEREZ, has been in federal custody since October 15, 2010, when he was arrested during a takedown of more than 50 members of a massive marijuana trafficking ring that transported ton-quantities of marijuana from Florida and California for distribution in the greater New York area from the early 1990’s to 2010.
In sentencing RODRIGUEZ-PEREZ, Judge Swain said a life sentence was warranted because of the “breadth and violence” of his criminal conduct, which showed an “immense willingness and capacity to exact vengeance and violence.” Judge Swain described the “collateral damage caused” by RODRIGUEZ-PEREZ’s crimes as “catastrophic and immeasurable.”
Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding investigative work of ICE HSI, the New York City Police Department, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
He also thanked the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bergen County, New Jersey, Prosecutor’s Office, the Englewood, New Jersey, Police Department, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the New York City Department of Investigation for their assistance, and added that the investigation is continuing.
The investigation and prosecution of the cases arising from “Operation Green Venom” has been overseen by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crimes Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew C. Adams is responsible for the prosecution.
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