A former mayor of a town in Puerto Rico was given a two-year prison sentence today for taking part in a bribery scheme in which he got cash payments every month in exchange for giving out contracts for the town.
Luis Arroyo-Chiqués, a 56-year-old man from Rincón, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to bribe someone in December 2021. According to court documents and statements he made when he pleaded guilty and was sentenced, Arroyo-Chiqués was the mayor of Aguas Buenas and the highest-ranking government official there from 2005 to 2016.
In 2017, Arroyo-Chiqués talked with Individual B about a contract for Company A, which was owned and run by Individual A, to pick up trash. Individual A agreed to give Arroyo-Chiqués bribes of $10,000 per month in exchange for a 10-year contract to pick up trash. This works out to $1 per house in the municipality, which means that Individual A would have to pay $10,000 per month.
Arroyo-Chiqués would get $5,000 a month for as long as the contract was in effect, and Individual B would also get $5,000 a month. Since 2016, this payment has been made every month in cash, even after Arroyo-Chiqués left office in 2016. In June 2021, Arroyo-Chiqués got its last payment.
Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico, Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, and Special Agent in Charge Joseph Gonzalez of the FBI’s San Juan Field Office made the announcement.
The case was looked into by the FBI’s San Juan Field Office.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Nicholas W. Cannon of the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth A. Erbe of the District of Puerto Rico.
This case is part of the Justice Department’s ongoing work to stop municipal officials in Puerto Rico from stealing from the public. In addition to the above cases, the Public Integrity Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico have recently convicted other former public officials and contractors in the District of Puerto Rico of soliciting and accepting bribes related to municipal contracts.
See United States v. Eduardo Cintrón-Suárez, 22-151 (SCC); United States v. Félix Delgado-Montalvo, 21-463 (RAM); United States v. Oscar Santamaria-Torres, 21-464 (RAM); United States v. Raymond Rodrguez, 21-465 (RAM); and United States v. Ramon Conde-Melendez, 22-221 (SCC) (PAD)