In The United States District Court For The District of Puerto Rico
In The United States District Court For The District of Puerto Rico
In The United States District Court For The District of Puerto Rico
MARIO VILLEGAS-VARGAS
Defendant.
This investigation has revealed a scheme in which private business owners enticed
public officials in municipalities across Puerto Rico to accept cash in exchange for municipal
contracts. One of the central contracting companies that earned municipal contracts through
these bribe payments was J.R. Asphalt, Inc., an asphalt removal and pavement business
owned and operated by Defendant Mario Villegas.1 Mr. Villegas paid large sums of cash to
the mayor of Cataño and others in exchange for lucrative paving projects. He has pleaded
guilty to conspiracy to commit federal funds bribery. The Court must now determine his
sentence.
An elected official’s public trust should not be for sale to the highest bidder. The
Government recommends that the Court send a strong message of deterrence to business
owners like Mr. Villegas who engage in secretive, quid pro quo arrangements with the officials
that Puerto Rico’s citizens have entrusted with public office. An appropriate sentence is fifty-
seven (57) months of imprisonment and a term of supervised release of two (2) years. Such a
sentence accounts for the seriousness of the offense, the scope of Mr. Villegas’s bribery
1
J.R. Asphalt, Inc. was also owned and operated by Individual B, who pleaded guilty and is
awaiting sentencing.
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scheme, and the need to provide an adequate deterrent for future public officials and
that Mr. Villegas entered with Individual A, the mayor of Cataño. As outlined in the plea
agreement, the arrangement dated back to 2017, and Mr. Villegas’ bribe payments specifically
included:
2020;
Mr. Villegas made these payments secretly and encouraged Individual A to engage in
behavior to conceal their corrupt bargain. For example, on December 14, 2020, when Mr.
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Villegas made the payment of cash pictured above to Individual A, they met in Mr. Villegas’
tinted-windowed vehicle in a McDonald’s parking lot. At the outset of the meeting, Mr.
Villegas encouraged Individual A to use disposable phones, and offered to provide them
himself:
Villegas: “I could bring you ten if you want, five. I know that he sells them to thugs
and all that shit and then they change the chip, but he tells me to throw the whole
phone away. This has a chip and the guys [UI]—
Individual A: “Yes, but that--that it can--that you can break it and fuck it.”
Villegas: “That costs 20--five bucks. You take this, use it--Make four calls, you know,
tear it up and throw it there, in the water. It should always be underwater.”2
After handing Individual A the $70,000 in cash, Mr. Villegas then confirmed that he fulfilled
his end of the quid pro quo in relation to a paving project in one neighborhood of Cataño,
In total, Mr. Villegas and his business partner, Individual B, paid more than $95,000
in bribe payments to Individual A. Further, numerous other public officials have pleaded
guilty to receiving bribe and kickback payments in exchange for beneficial treatment towards
Mr. Villegas’ company, J.R. Asphalt. See, e.g., United States v. Javier Garcia-Perez, 22-185
(ADC) (former mayor of Aguas Buenas); United States v. Eduardo Cintron-Suarez, 22-151 (SCC)
(former mayor of Guayama); United States v. Ramon Conde-Melendez, 22-221 (PAD) (former
Director of Public Works in Guayama); United States v. Pedro Miranda-Marrero, 22-251 (RAM)
(former Director of Public Works in Cataño); United States v. Jose Cruz-Cruz, 22-276 (SCC)
(former mayor of Trujillo Alto). Mr. Villegas’ corrupting influence casts a long shadow in
this district.
2
This excerpt has been translated from Spanish to English.
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Guidelines. 18 U.S.C. § 3553. Although the Guidelines are advisory in nature, courts “must
consult those Guidelines and take them into account when sentencing.” United States v.
Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 264 (2005). A sentencing court thus begins by calculating the applicable
guidelines range, which serves as “the starting point and the initial benchmark.” Gall v. United
States, 552 U.S. 38, 49 (2007); see also Nelson v. United States, 555 U.S. 350, 351 (2009) (noting
The court then must consider the sentencing factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a),
including the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of
the defendant. See Nelson, 555 U.S. at 351 (explaining that after the court determines the
applicable guidelines sentencing range, it must “consider what sentence is appropriate for the
The United States and the defendant have proposed the following advisory guidelines
2
Involving One or More Bribe: U.S.S.G. § 2C1.1(b)(1)
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23
TOTAL ADJUSTED OFFENSE LEVEL
The proposed guidelines are identical to the guideline range calculated by the
probation office (ECF No. 48, pp. 9-10.) These proposed guidelines contained in the Plea
The advisory guidelines range is only one of several factors that this Court must
consider when imposing a sentence consistent with 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). See Kimbrough v.
United States, 552 U.S. 85, 90 (2007) (noting that guidelines ranges “serve as one factor among
several courts must consider”). The United States therefore addresses several § 3553(a) factors
1. The nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and
characteristics of the defendant (18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(1))
The nature and circumstances of Mr. Villegas’ conduct require a serious and
meaningful punishment. Mr. Villegas made blatant cash kickback payments, literally handing
an elected mayor a bag of cash in exchange for contract work. There is no indication that
Mr. Villegas would have ceased making such payments had he not been caught. Corruption
of this nature has a corrosive effect on citizens’ confidence that their elected officials act with
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fidelity to the public’s best interest. At the same time, Mr. Villegas has no previous criminal
history and he has run a successful business. A sentence of fifty-seven months punishes his
unacceptable criminal conduct while also accounting for his lack of criminal history.
2. The need for the sentence imposed to reflect the seriousness of the offense,
to promote respect for the law, and to provide just punishment for the
offense (18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(A)); and the need for the sentence imposed
to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct (18 U.S.C. §
3553(a)(2)(B))
requires that real, tangible, and severe consequences meet those who gain a position of public
trust and then abuse that trust for personal gain.” United States v. Sorenson, 233 F. Supp. 3d
690, 699 (S.D. Iowa), aff’d, 705 F. App’x 481 (8th Cir. 2017). A meaningful term of
incarceration is required to promote respect for our anti-corruption laws and to restore faith
economic and public corruption crimes.” United States v. Morgan, 635 F. App’x 423, 450 (10th
Cir. 2015). The sentence in this case should be sufficiently serious to deter business owners
from engaging in backroom, kickback arrangements with public officials that undermine
government and fair competition. The need for general deterrence is particularly important
here, because such quid pro quo arrangements are notoriously difficult for law enforcement
individuals from engaging in such corrupt behavior, strict sentences also serve to protect the
public from further harm. Mr. Villegas and others who pay elected officials to abuse their
positions of trust must receive appropriately serious punishment, which is “[t]he only way to
protect the public from the ongoing problem of public corruption and to promote respect for
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the rule of law.” United States v. Spano, 411 F. Supp 2d 923, 940 (N.D. Ill), aff’d, 447 F.3d 517
District courts are to consider the need to avoid unwarranted disparities when imposing
sentence. See 18 U.S.C. §3553(a)(6). “Under this instruction, district courts must take account
of sentencing practices in other courts.” Kimbrough, 552 U.S. at 108. “Indeed, one of the
Simmons, 501 F.3d 620, 626 (6th Cir. 2007). District courts court routinely impose, and the
First Circuit routinely approves, significant periods of incarceration for cases involving
bribery. See, e.g., United States v. Acevedo-Hernández, 898 F.3d 150, 171-72 (1st Cir. 2018)
(affirming 120-month sentence for defendant judge convicted of accepting bribes at trial,
where defendant argued he only received $63,380 in bribes but sentencing judge noted he
would have imposed the same sentence regardless of whether certain adjustments were
proper); United States v. Ciresi, 697 F.3d 19, 31-32 (1st Cir. 2012) (affirming 63-month sentence
of defendant after conviction at trial for paying $70,000 to $120,000 in bribes to a local
official); United States v. Del Valle-Colon, 20-260 (SCC), ECF No. 166 and 123, p. 4 (D.P.R.,
Sept. 7, 2022) (former member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives with adjusted
offense level of 25 sentenced to fifty-seven months for his role in a bribery and kickback
scheme).
Unlike Acevedo-Hernández and Del Valle-Colon, Mr. Villegas was not the public
official receiving the bribe, but rather the private businessman paying it. As the Court
considers Mr. Villegas’ sentence, the Government respectfully requests that it consider that a
business owner willing to pay for a betrayal of the public trust is the prerequisite for the elected
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official willing to commit it. Simply stated, “it takes two to tango.” A sentence of 57 months
of imprisonment here will put would-be bribe payors on notice that they, too, expose
III. Conclusion
The United States respectfully requests that the Court impose a sentence of fifty-seven
(57) months of imprisonment, which represents the high range of the advisory guideline
I HEREBY CERTIFY that on this date I electronically filed the present motion with
the Clerk of Court using the CM/ECF system which will send notification of such filing to
COREY R. AMUNDSON
CHIEF, PUBLIC INTEGRITY SECTION
/s/Ryan R. Crosswell
Nicholas W. Cannon (G01814)
Ryan R. Crosswell (G03502)
Trial Attorneys
Department of Justice
Public Integrity Section
1301 New York Ave., NW
10th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20530
(202) 514-8187
nicholas.cannon2@usdoj.gov
ryan.r.crosswell@usdoj.gov