Irizarry didn't know the trafficker was an informant for the Miami-Dade money-laundering strike force, which complained to the Justice Department, leading to Yabrudi's arrest last year. Irizarry's undoing came when he was caught stealing from police informants and interfering in legitimate law-enforcement actions. Yabrudi, in pleading guilty, admitted he withdrew cash from the account and gave payments to his unnamed DEA co-conspirator — Irizarry, the officials said — and accounts he controlled. But he was never charged and has eluded prosecution ever since by leveraging relationships built over decades as an informant to multiple U.S. law enforcement agencies, the officials said. The conspiracy not only allegedly enriched Irizarry but is believed to have benefited one of South America's top money launderers, who is a relative of Irizarry's Colombian wife, said the officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the federal investigation. Irizarry pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, honest services wire fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit identity theft, and aggravated identity theft. The FBI busted Jose Irizarry and his wife, Nathalia Gomez-Irizarry, on Friday at their San Juan, Puerto Rico, home, a law-enforcement source familiar with the case told the Associated Press. The officials described the case as one of the biggest black eyes in the history of the DEA, an agency that has seen repeated scandals in recent years, and one they fear could have compromised undercover operations in the U.S. and South America. Before he was exposed, Irizarry had been a model agent, the law enforcement officials said, winning praise from his supervisors. Jose Irizarry and his wife were arrested Friday at their home near San Juan, Puerto Rico, as part of a 19-count federal indictment that accused the 46-year-old Irizarry of “secretly using his position and his special access to information” to divert millions in drug proceeds from control of the Drug Enforcement Administration. There were other red flags. Given the huge sums laundered every day, his unsuspecting criminal clients chalked up the losses to a cat-and-mouse game with the feds. Current and former U.S. law enforcement officials now suspect Irizarry was using his badge to turn in Marin's rivals. Jose Irizarry pleaded guilty Monday, Sept. 14, 2020 in Tampa, Fla., to federal bank fraud, conspiracy and other charges. Irizarry and his wife face prison time when they are sentenced at a later date. Attorneys, Ex-DEA Agent, Wife Plead Guilty to Diverting $9M from Money Laundering Investigations. Irizarry was hired by the DEA despite indications he showed signs of deception in a polygraph exam he took upon admission, three of the law enforcement officials said. A once standout Drug Enforcement Administration agent, Jose Irizarry is accused of conspiring with a longtime DEA informant to launder more than $7 million in illicit drug proceeds, sometimes using an underground network known as the black-market peso exchange, according to five current and former law enforcement officials. Attorneys, National Association of Former U.S. of Assistant U.S. "He was the superstar everyone wanted to be," one former law enforcement official said. Posted: September 16th, 2020 under News Story. Agencies | They said Yabrudi knew that the funds were illegal drug proceeds and that his co-conspirator had been "acting outside the scope of his authority" as a DEA agent. Later, the officials said, it was learned that he had also been falsifying DEA paperwork used to pay informants — pocketing the money for himself. “In a shocking breach of the public’s trust, former DEA Special Agent Jose Irizarry, together with his wife, Nathalia Gomez-Irizarry, abused his position by illegally diverting millions of dollars in drug proceeds from undercover operations to personally benefit themselves,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a news release. Prosecutors say the scheme began after Irizarry filed for bankruptcy in December 2010. At times, Irizarry fabricated DEA seizure orders or letters from banks in order to pocket some of the money, the law enforcement officials said. Repeated messages seeking comment left on a cellphone number the law enforcement officials said belongs to Irizarry were not returned. MIAMI — A U.S. federal narcotics agent known for his expensive tastes and high-profile drug seizures has been implicated in a multimillion-dollar money-laundering conspiracy that involved the very cartel criminals he was charged with fighting in Colombia. The money was deposited into bank accounts controlled by Jose Ismael Irizarry, 46, his wife, Nathalia Gomez-Irizarry, 36, and other co-conspirators. The division has seen internal strife and turnover in leadership even as it grapples with record-high levels of cocaine production. The allegations have sent shockwaves through the DEA and drawn new scrutiny to the agency's Colombia field office, a critical outpost that has been steeped in turmoil in recent years. Mobile Site All rights reserved. A DEA spokeswoman said Irizarry resigned from the agency after he was recalled from Colombia to Washington in 2017 but declined further comment. Marin was arrested in 1993 for allegedly hiding dope money for the Cali cartel in Colombia-bound home appliances. The Ledger ~ 300 W. Lime St., Lakeland, FL 33815 ~ Do Not Sell My Personal Information ~ Cookie Policy ~ Do Not Sell My Personal Information ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service ~ Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Choose the plan that’s right for you. Digital access or digital and print delivery. © 2020 Tickle The Wire - Entries (RSS) - Comments (RSS) - Log in Irizarry also adopted the ostentatious tastes of the drug traffickers he was tasked with targeting. Yabrudi's lawyer, Leonardo Concepcion, declined to comment about the case but described it case as "involving serious corruption by a DEA agent.". Chad Van Horn, a Miami attorney who represented Irizarry in a bankruptcy case, said he had no comment and could provide no assistance in efforts to reach him. “Irizarry’s conduct enabled criminals, endangered the public, and jeopardized public trust in law enforcement.”. Barry Wax, a Miami defense attorney who has also represented Irizarry, did not return phone calls and emails seeking comment. Based out of Miami, he won special permission to set up an undercover operation to send money and ship contraband merchandise to Colombia on behalf of suspected drug traffickers using front companies, shell bank accounts and couriers. In 2010, Irizarry declared bankruptcy with debts of almost $500,000, but he was nevertheless permitted to handle financial transactions in his role at the DEA. Jose Irizarry and his wife were arrested Friday at their home near San Juan, Puerto Rico, as part of a 19-count federal indictment that accused the 46-year-old Irizarry of “secretly using his position and his special access to information” to divert millions in drug proceeds from control of … The case raises new questions about the DEA's screening practices in its hiring of special agents. FILE - This June 13, 2016 file photo shows Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents in Florida. They used some of the laundered money to buy a Tiffany diamond ring, a $135,000 Land Rover and a home in Cartagena. Prosecutors allege that $7 million flowed through a single account over almost six years. At no point in the bankruptcy proceedings did he disclose any of the illicit income to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Some of the details emerged in a federal case in Tampa, Florida, in which a former DEA informant, Gustavo Yabrudi, a dual Venezuelan-American citizen, recently pleaded guilty to money laundering. © Gannett Co., Inc. 2020. Home | His investigations led to scores of drug arrests, earning him an early-career transfer to a coveted foreign posting in the Colombian resort city of Cartagena, where his successes continued. When word of the scandal reached Washington that year, the FBI and Justice Department dispatched investigators to Colombia to conduct criminal and internal inquiries, fearing that it could backfire on the DEA's ability to keep the trust of sources in the criminal underworld, the law enforcement officials said. But unbeknownst to his bosses, Irizarry and Yabrudi, his long-time informant, allegedly opened a bank account where they directed deposits from a growing network of criminal contacts looking to repatriate drug proceeds to Colombia, the officials said. Calls and text messages sent to Irizarry's wife seeking comment from Marin, who is her relative, went unanswered, as did repeated phone calls and emails to Marin's Miami-based lawyer, David Macey. Site by: Sik Solutions, LLC. They used some of the laundered money to buy a Tiffany diamond ring, a $135,000 Land Rover and a home in Cartagena. It is unknown where the 44-year-old Irizarry is living, or whether he has been charged in the ongoing criminal probe. “Rather than upholding his oath to stop drug trafficking and money laundering, Irizarry actively participated in these schemes and collected millions of dollars for himself and his associates,” Special Agent in Charge James F. Boyersmith of the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Miami Field Office said in a news release. Sometimes the funds were used to purchase electronics, textiles and other goods that were exported to Colombia for resale in pesos, which were used to pay the traffickers. He hosted raucous yacht parties with bikini-clad prostitutes, which fellow agents and at least one supervisor attended against DEA policy, according to an official, who went to one such party. Contact Us | Advertise | “The FBI will not tolerate those who abuse the public trust and will persist in safeguarding the American people from public corruption.”. Milestones | The DEA banned such gatherings in the wake of the 2015 "sex parties" scandal in Colombia that prompted the retirement of the DEA's administrator at the time. A once standout Drug Enforcement Administration agent, Jose Irizarry is accused of conspiring with a longtime DEA informant to launder more … His second wife, Nathalia Gomez, is related to Diego Marin, who U.S. and Colombian officials describe as one of the top money-laundering suspects in the country over the past decade. Investigators are also examining whether Irizarry's marriage into the mafia was driving his off-the-chart arrest and seizure numbers, the law enforcement officials said. He traveled first-class to Europe sporting Louis Vuitton luggage and a gold Hublot watch, one official said. Among the missteps was an $87,000 wire transfer destined for a trafficker in Cali that mysteriously went missing. That case refers to an unnamed "co-conspirator 3" — a suspect who is in fact Irizarry, the five officials said. The money was deposited into bank accounts controlled by Jose Ismael Irizarry, 46, his wife, Nathalia Gomez-Irizarry, 36, and other co-conspirators. Jobs | "None of these deposits, nor the use of the funds that followed, were officially sanctioned DEA operations," prosecutors wrote in court filings. “Sworn law enforcement agents are entrusted with great responsibility, and the department will hold accountable those who exploit their positions to profit from public corruption.”.

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