SAN JUAN – Nine individuals have been indicted and could face the death penalty for the February 2013 murder in Puerto Rico of a correctional officer of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons.Lt. Osvaldo Albarati was killed on Feb. 26, 2013, after he had confiscated cellular phones and other contraband from the accused, who were inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Guaynabo, a U.S. federal prison outside San Juan, the FBI said earlier this week in a press release.
United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico Rosa Emilia Rodriguez said Friday at a press conference that the murder was the first of a U.S. federal agent on the Caribbean island.
The defendants planned the murder after the Puerto Rican correctional officer had ordered the items confiscated, the FBI said, citing the indictment.
The leader of the group was identified as Oscar Martinez Hernandez, aka “Cali,” who had been arrested in Venezuela in 2001 for drug smuggling.
The defendants could face the death penalty, Rodriguez said, although she did not indicate if she would recommend capital punishment and said the decision would be left up to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
Puerto Rico abolished the death penalty in 1929 but federal authorities could impose that punishment since the island is a U.S. commonwealth. The executions, however, would have to be carried out off the island.
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