Federal authorities have charged the manufacturer today Sixto George because he would have tried to extort money from the then governor Ricardo Rosselló and an official after the chat was published Telegram.
The producer was arrested this morning by the authorities and faces three charges of attempted extortion, extortion between states and destruction of evidence. Sixto Jorge Díaz Colón – the producer’s first name – allegedly tried several times to extort money from Anthony Maceira and then from Governor Rosselló. According to the prosecutor’s office, the scheme consisted of George – upon learning of its existence Telegram– He tried to get money and government contracts in exchange for helping to “repair” the image of the Rosselló administration after the chat was published.
George was also charged with felony criminal mischief. The initial hearing against George will be today at 11:30
According to the indictment, George found out about the existence of the Telegram chat on February 1, 2019 after “Person 1” – whom the prosecution identifies only as a “relative” of “Person 2”, who was an official of the Rosselló administration – assured him that he has “incriminating” information against Rosselló and his senior advisers. According to the indictment, “Person 1” – who could be “Rauly” Maldonado, the son of former Treasury Secretary Raúl Maldonado – showed George the Telegram chat, but did not provide a copy.
Then, on July 20, 2019, George sent a message Anthony Maceira, then secretary of public affairs in La Fortaleza – and who appears identified as “Person 4” in the federal document – warning him of the existence of “evidence” against the Rosselló administration.
“Look, if Fortitude doesn’t stop screwing up ‘Person 2’, ‘Person 1’ has a lot of evidence to fuck up this administration starting with ‘Person 3’.” “Person 2” reads George’s message to Maceira. According to the federal indictment, “Person 2” could be Raúl Maldonado and “Person 3” could be Rosselló, whom he identifies only as the governor who held office from January 2017 until August 2019.
George then met with Maceira to indicate that Maldonado Jr. would have the Telegram chat messages in a folder and that posting these messages could destroy Rosselló, his closest associates and members of his party. George would then have asked Maceira to help him with “some” of his government contracts for which he received compensation.
The first 11 pages of the Telegram chat were published on July 8, 2019. Then, on July 11, several media outlets in the country published additional pages of the Telegram chat. Telegram. Finally, on July 13, 2019, the Center for Investigative Journalism published the entire exchange of messages between the former governor and his advisers.
According to the indictment, on July 16, 2019, George met with Maceira and indicated that Maldonado Jr. had additional messages from the Telegram chat that would not have been published and that these messages would have more harmful information against Rosselló, his advisers and of his party members, including Maceira.
George told Maceira that Maldonado Jr.’s intention was to “start a fire in Puerto Rico” with the publication of these messages. According to George, the messages would not have been published if Maldonado Jr. had received $ 300,000. The federal prosecution says George will receive the money – on behalf of Maldonado Jr. – through a George corporation that did not have government contracts.
As part of the agreement, Maceira also had to pay for “talents” and “well-known people in the industry” to publicly plead for Rosselló. The prosecution does not identify these persons.
In addition, Maceira should “re-establish” contracts with the Treasury Department and the Office of Management and Budget. According to the indictment, George benefited from these contracts. The agreements were not renewed after Maldonado was removed from the post of head of these agencies on June 24, 2019.
After this meeting, Maceira mentioned to George that he was “afraid” and did not want to “burn”.
During the meeting, George telegramed to Maceira the names of the companies that their contracts had not been renewed in both agencies.
According to the indictment, on July 19, Maceira told George that he was “working on what was discussed.” On July 26, 2019, federal authorities contacted George.
The deal ended after Rosselló failed to pay George.
The indictment also indicates that on July 26, 2019, George tried to destroy and / or hide the messages he exchanged with Maceira.
See the accusation here:
Ind Extortion, obstruction of justice 21-017 1-27-21 by Metro Puerto Rico on Scribd