Former Puerto Rico Mayor Sentenced for Corruption, Bribery
In the latest sentencing related to government corruption in Puerto Rico, the former mayor of Guaynabo was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison for accepting bribes for government contracts.
Ángel Pérez-Otero was convicted in March 2023 of conspiracy, bribery, and extortion.
Pérez-Otero served as mayor of Guaynabo from 2017 to 2021 and was a former president of the Puerto Rico Mayors Association, and former Chairman of the Treasury Committee in Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives.
While mayor, prosecutors say he accepted cash bribes from the owner of a construction company, in exchange for giving that company government contracts and expediting payments. Those bribes amounted to about $5,000 a month in exchange for a $1 million road contract. Prosecutors had video and photos of Pérez-Otero accepting cash payments inside a car and under a restaurant table.
The scheme ran from late 2019 to May 2021.
Pérez-Otero was arrested in December 2021, after a Colombian businessman and another mayor who had been involved in a bribery scheme, discussed the case with federal prosecutors.
A Wave of Corruption Arrests
At the time of his arrest in 2021, Pérez-Otero was the tenth Puerto Rico mayor accused of corruption within the past few years, and the third tied to the case involving roadwork.
The mayors of Cataño, Guayama, Aguas Buenas, Trujillo Alto, were among the others arrested.
Pérez-Otero was the only one who did not take a plea deal.
The FBI San Juan Field Office investigated the case.
Attorneys for Pérez-Otero are appealing.