Dismayed Judge Signs Off on DOJ’s Deal for Puerto Rico Governor

A federal judge is allowing the Justice Department’s about-face to provide leniency for Puerto Rico’s former governor and a billionaire banker shortly before a scheduled bribery trial, signaling she was troubled by the misdemeanor plea despite lacking authority to stop it.

The Trump-supporting former Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced, bank owner Julio Herrera Velutini, and their ex-FBI agent intermediary settled “following directives presumably issued by Main Justice” and now “strikingly” face “a mere slap on the wrist,” said US District Judge Silvia L. Carreño-Coll in an order Tuesday.

Bloomberg Law reported July 2 that DOJ political leadership ordered prosecutors to back down from their yearslong position that the defendants’ misconduct merited far harsher punishment, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The trio each faced up to 20 years in prison if convicted, and now can walk without any prison time.

The judge detailed how the DOJ’s new position contrasts with nearly three years of the government “zealously” prosecuting its case, including an “extensive motion practice,” massive discovery productions, and several times in which she denied motions to dismiss the indictment.

“But alas, the Government’s decision to shift gears at the eleventh hour is allowed because ultimately the Government decides how it will exercise its prosecutorial discretion,” Carreño-Coll said. “So, because the Court will not violate separation of power principles and holds the utmost respect for the Constitution and the rule of law, it is left with no other option but to respect the Government’s decision.”

Carreño-Coll gave the parties a July 15 deadline to provide their availability for arraignments and plea hearings in the US District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. The defendants agreed to plead guilty to one misdemeanor count each of unlawful campaign contributions.

In the August 2022 indictment, which has now been dismissed, prosecutors alleged Herrera made $300,000 in campaign contributions to Vázquez-Garced in exchange for an agreement to fire the territory’s commissioner of financial institutions and replace him with someone Herrera selected. The commissioner’s office was at the time investigating around $10 billion in transactions processed by Bancredito Bank Holding Corp., which Herrera founded.

The mandate from the deputy attorney general’s office followed arguments from the defense attorneys, including Trump’s former personal attorney Christopher Kise, that the targeting of a Puerto Rican politician who’d endorsed Donald Trump for president was an example of prosecutor weaponization, Bloomberg Law reported.

Defense attorneys were able to find a receptive audience higher up the chain, forcing Puerto Rico’s US attorney and line prosecutors to agree to change course.

The case is USA v. Vazquez-Garced et al, D.P.R., No. 3:22-cr-00342, 7/8/25