A Puerto Rico legislator and her husband were sentenced today for their involvement in a multi-year theft, bribery, and kickback scheme that fraudulently inflated the salary of a legislative assistant in exchange for a portion of the assistant’s increased pay.
María Milagros Charbonier-Laureano, also known as Tata, a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, received an eight-year prison sentence. Her husband, Orlando Montes-Rivera, was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison.
According to court documents and trial evidence, from early 2017 to July 2020, Charbonier-Laureano, her husband, and her assistant, Frances Acevedo-Ceballos, defrauded the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico through theft, bribery, and kickbacks. During this period, Charbonier-Laureano increased Acevedo-Ceballos’ salary from $800 bi-weekly, after taxes, to nearly $2,900. Acevedo-Ceballos agreed to keep a portion of each inflated paycheck and return approximately $1,500 to Charbonier-Laureano and Montes-Rivera.
Upon learning about the investigation and a warrant for one of her phones, Charbonier-Laureano deleted significant data, including call logs, WhatsApp messages, and iMessages.
In January, the jury convicted Charbonier-Laureano and Montes-Rivera of conspiracy, two counts of theft, bribery, and kickbacks related to programs receiving federal funds, six counts of honest services wire fraud, and two counts of money laundering. Charbonier-Laureano was also found guilty of obstruction of justice for destroying phone data.
Acevedo-Ceballos, who pleaded guilty to bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, was sentenced in February to three years and one month in prison.
The announcement was made by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico; and Special Agent in Charge Joseph Gonzalez of the FBI San Juan Field Office.
The FBI San Juan Field Office conducted the investigation, while Trial Attorneys Jonathan E. Jacobson and Kathryn E. Fifield of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney María L. Montañez Concepción for the District of Puerto Rico prosecuted the case.
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