Former mayor sentenced to five years in prison for embezzlement from Las Terrenas City Council

Las Terrenas.- The Collegiate Court of the Criminal Chamber of the Court of First Instance in the province of Samaná has convicted former mayor of Las Terrenas, José Mercedes Martínez Emeterio, sentencing him to five years in prison. This sentence comes as a result of his involvement in embezzlement activities that negatively affected both the City Council of Las Terrenas and the Dominican State.

Alongside Martínez Emeterio, Willis Alberto Vilorio Sarante also faced legal repercussions for his role in the embezzlement. The court, with the aid of prosecutors José Miguel Marmolejos Vallejo and Wagner Cubilete García from the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for the Prosecution of Administrative Corruption (Pepca), handed down a three-year prison sentence to Vilorio Sarante.

The judgment was delivered by a panel of judges comprising Edward José Soto Soto, Luz Mariel Santos Alonzo, and Dilcia de Peña Green. This case against the former mayor was initiated following a complaint lodged by councilors of the Municipal City Council of Las Terrenas. The complaint, filed on April 28, 2015, was backed by evidence of multiple legal violations and misappropriation of public funds, as revealed in an audit conducted by the Chamber of Accounts of the mayor’s office.