Federal authorities have sued the producer today Sixto George for allegedly trying to extort money from the then governor Ricardo Rosselló and an official after the publication of the chat Telegram.
The producer was arrested by authorities this morning and is facing three attempts at extortion, interstate extortion and destruction of evidence. Sixto Jorge Díaz Colón – the producer’s first name – reportedly tried several times to extort money from Anthony Maceira and then-Governor Rosselló. The settlement, according to the Prosecution, would consist of George – after learning of the existence of the Telegram– He tried to get money and government contracts in exchange for helping to “restore” the image of the Rosselló government after the chat was published.
George was also charged with committing the crime of destruction of evidence. The first hearing against George will take place today at 11:30 am
According to the indictment, on February 1, 2019, George heard about the existence of the Telegram chat after ‘Person 1’ – who is identified by the allegation only as a ‘relative’ of ‘Person 2’, who was a government official Rosselló – Assured him that he had “incriminating” information against Rosselló and his senior advisers. According to the indictment, “Person 1” – who could be ‘Rauly’ Maldonado, son of former Treasury Secretary Raúl Maldonado – showed George the Telegram chat but did not give him a copy.
On July 20, 2019, George sent a message Anthony Maceira, when La Fortaleza’s Public Affairs Secretary – identified in the federal document as “Person 4” – warns him of the existence of “evidence” against the Rosselló government.
Look, if Fortitude doesn’t stop sewing on ‘Person 2’, ‘Person 1’ has a lot of evidence to fuck this paper up, starting with ‘Person 3’. According to ‘Person 1’ you and Fortress are behind the attack against ” Person 2 “reads George’s message to Maceira. According to federal charges,” Person 2 “could be Raúl Maldonado and” Person 3 “could be Rosselló, whom they identify only as a governor who has been in office with Augustus since January 2017. 2019.
George then met with Maceira to indicate that Maldonado Jr. would have the Telegram chat messages in a folder and that posting these messages could destroy Rosselló, his close associates and members of his party. George would then have asked Maceira to help him with “several” of his government contracts for which he received compensation.
The first 11 pages of the Telegram chat were published on July 8, 2019. Subsequently, on July 11, various media outlets in the country published additional pages of the Telegram chat. Telegram. Finally, on July 13, 2019, the Investigative Journalism Center published the full exchange of messages between the former governor and his advisers.
According to the indictment, George met with Maceira on July 16, 2019 and indicated that Maldonado Jr. had additional messages from the Telegram chat that would not have been published and that these messages would contain more harmful information against Rosselló, his advisers and party. members, including Maceira.
George told Maceira it was the intention of Maldonado Jr. to “start a fire in Puerto Rico” with the publication of these messages. According to George, the posts would not be published as Maldonado Jr. Would receive $ 300,000. According to the federal indictment, George would – on behalf of Maldonado Jr. – received through a George company that had no government contracts.
As part of the deal, Maceira also had to pay for “talents” and “industry celebrities” who would publicly advocate for Rosselló. The Prosecution does not identify these people.
In addition, Maceira should “restore” contracts with the Ministry of Finance and the Office of Management and Budget. According to the indictment, George took advantage of these contracts. The agreements were not renewed following the removal of Maldonado as head of these agencies on June 24, 2019.
After this meeting, Maceira told George that he was “scared” and did not want to “burn out”.
During the meeting, George Maceira sent via Telegram the names of the companies that had not renewed their contracts with both agencies.
According to the indictment, Maceira indicated to George on July 19 that he was “working on what was being discussed.” Federal authorities contacted George on July 26, 2019.
The deal fell through after Rosselló failed to pay the amount requested by George.
The indictment also indicates that on July 26, 2019, George tried to destroy and / or hide the messages he exchanged with Maceira.
See the accusation here:
Ind. Extortion, Obstruction of Justice 21-017 1-27-21 by Metro Puerto Rico on Scribd