19 YEAR POLICE VETERAN CONVICTED OF PROVIDING SECURITY FOR DRUG TANSACTION

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Monday, May 14, 2012
Nineteen-Year Police Veteran Convicted in Puerto Rico for Role in Providing Armed Security for Drug Transaction

WASHINGTON – A 19-year veteran of the Police of Puerto Rico was convicted today by a federal jury in San Juan, Puerto Rico, for her role in providing security for a drug transaction, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Rosa E. Rodriguez-Velez of the District of Puerto Rico and Special Agent in Charge Joseph S. Campbell of the FBI’s San Juan Field Office.

Yamil Navedo Ramirez, 39, was convicted of one count of attempting to possess with the intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug transaction.  She was acquitted of one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.
Navedo Ramirez was charged in a superseding indictment returned on Oct. 28, 2010, along with 88 law enforcement officers in Puerto Rico and 42 other individuals, as part of the FBI undercover operation known as Guard Shack.

According to the evidence presented in court, Navedo Ramirez provided security for what she believed was an illegal drug transaction on April 14, 2010.  In fact, the purported drug transaction was part of the undercover FBI operation.  According to information presented at trial, Navedo Ramirez acted as a security guard for what she believed was a 12-kilogram cocaine deal by helping to frisk the buyer, providing armed protection for the deal using her Police of Puerto Rico service weapon, and escorting the buyer in and out of the transaction.

In return for the security she provided, Navedo Ramirez received a cash payment of $2,000.

U.S. District Judge Juan Pérez-Giménez scheduled sentencing for Sept. 21, 2012.  At sentencing, Navedo Ramirez faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison.

The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Kevin Driscoll and Monique Abrishami of the Public Integrity Section in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.  The case was investigated by the FBI.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico also participated in the investigation and prosecution of this case.