Colonel accused of extortion

[NewsWhore]

Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Bienvenido Cruz Marte, who served as a liaison between the United States Embassy and the National Drug Control Department (DNCD) and was responsible for seeking out Dominicans wanted in extradition, was sent to La Victoria Jail yesterday for three months to give time for the preparation of the trial against him. He is accused of forging Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) sentences, allegedly with the purpose of extorting and blackmailing people on the pretext that they were wanted by the justice system in the US. A judge found sufficient evidence to try him on grounds of trying to extort a man for RD$ 5 million to avoid extradition. The arrest warrant was issued by the National District Third Court of Instruction after requests from Assistant Attorney Generals Bolivar Sanchez and Frank Soto, and Assistant Prosecutor Luis Gonzalez. When arrested, the detainee was carrying a report from the United States Marshal Service, another from the US Justice Department, an unlicensed pistol, five cellular phones, two recording devices and a CD with recorded conversations involving his victim. Cruz Marte's alleged accomplice, his wife Lucy Rodriguez Pereyra, was sent to Najayo Prison for three months, too.

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