AMCostaRica©
AMCostaRica©
.
According
to court documents, both men were
arrested by the U.S. Coast Guard
while the two were aboard a small
fishing vessel southwest of the
Panama/Costa Rica border high seas.
/ A.M. Costa Rica wire
services photo.
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-Monday, September
30, 2019-
Two Colombians detained in
Costa Rica - Panama high seas were
jailed in the U.S.
By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser
announced on Thursday that two
Colombian men, one surnamed
Pineda-Jimenez, age 37, and the
other surnamed Jimenz age 65, were
sentenced on September 25th,
2019.
The two men previously pleaded
guilty to conspiring to distribute
and possess with intent to
distribute, five kilograms or more
of cocaine hydrochloride while
upon the high seas on board a
vessel subject to the jurisdiction
of the United States.
According to court documents,
Jimenez and Jimenez were arrested
by the U.S. Coast Guard while the
two were aboard a small fishing
vessel southwest of the
Panama/Costa Rica border high
seas. Hidden aboard the
vessel was over 113 kilograms of
powder cocaine.
United States District Judge
Martin L.C. Feldman sentenced the
first man surnamed Pineda-Jimenz,
the captain of the vessel, to 78
months in prison followed by two
years of supervised release.
Judge Feldman sentenced the second
man surnamed Jimenz to 60 months
in prison followed by two years of
supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Strasser praised the
work of the United States Coast
Guard, the United States
Department of Homeland Security,
and United States Customs and
Border Protection in investigating
this matter. The prosecution
of this case is being handled by
Assistant U. S. Attorney Brandon
S. Long.
More information on this case may
be found at U.S. Department of
Justice site here.*
A recent case of a Costa Rican jailed in
the U.S., as was reported on A.M. Costa
Rica, on Sept 23rd, U.S. Attorney
Craig Carpenito announced that a man
surnamed Cabalceta, 53 years old, living
in New Jersey, was sentenced to 42 months
in prison for defrauding the U.S.
Department of Defense, know as DoD, by
providing military equipment parts that
were not what he had contracted to provide
and illegally accessing technical
information as a non-United States
citizen.
According to the rule, Cabalceta, of Atco,
New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty
before U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman
to one count of wire fraud and one count
of conspiracy to violate the Arms Export
Control Act. Judge Hillman imposed the
sentence today in Camden Federal Court.
According to documents filed in this case
and statements made in court, Cabalceta
was the owner of two companies in West
Berlin, New Jersey.
Cabalceta admitted that between August
2004 and March 2016, both companies
obtained contracts with the DoD by falsely
claiming that the military parts it
contracted to provide would be the exact
product provided by authorized
manufacturers.
The DoD contracts specified that the
military parts were critical application
items for military equipment, including
aircraft.
Contrary to the contract, Cabalceta either
used his companies to contract with local
manufacturers to supply non-conforming
parts or made the parts himself at a
significantly reduced cost.
The non-conforming parts were shipped from
New Jersey to various DoD locations around
the country. DoD paid $1,890,939 to
Cabalceta companies for those parts.
Cabalceta also admitted he was a native of
and citizen of the Republic of Costa Rica
who overstayed his tourist visa in 2000
and was not a United States citizen or
lawfully in the United States.
To further his fraud on the DoD, in August
2005 and November 2010, Cabalceta caused
his brother-in-law, a man surnamed
Sobrado, to submit to the DoD a fraudulent
application for access to export
controlled drawings and technical data on
behalf of the company.
In 2015, Cabalceta caused an accomplice to
submit to the DoD a fraudulent application
for access to export controlled drawings
and technical data on behalf of his
company.
Cabalceta acknowledged that access to the
controlled drawings and technical data was
limited to citizens of the United States
and those lawfully in the United States.
“He admitted that on July 28, 2011, and at
various times between January 2013 and
November 2015, while unlawfully in the
United States, he accessed or downloaded
drawings that were sensitive in nature
that required special access,” said the
U.S. Attorney in its statement.
In addition to the prison term, Judge
Hillman sentenced Cabalceta to two years
of supervised release and ordered to pay
$1.8 million in restitution. He will also
be deported to Costa Rica upon completion
of his sentence.
On Oct. 11th, 2018, Sobrado pleaded guilty
before Judge Hillman to three-counts of
conspiracy to commit wire fraud,
conspiracy to violate the Arms Export
Control Act, and income tax evasion. He
was sentenced Sept. 4th, 2019, to three
years in prison.
More information about this case can be
found at U.S. Attorney's site here.*
--------------------------
Have you heard on foreigners committing
fraud to Department of Defense? We would like to
know your thoughts on this story. Send
your comments to: news@amcostarica.com
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