Ex-Dominican Representative receives sentence reduction in US drug trafficking case

Santo Domingo.- In a recent development, United States federal prosecutors have agreed to a reduced sentence for former Dominican representative Miguel Gutiérrez Díaz, after he pleaded guilty to cocaine distribution in the United States. The agreement with the Southern District of Florida’s prosecutor’s office suggests a sentence reduction to 65 months in prison (5 years and five months), effective from February 1, 2024.

Gutiérrez Díaz had admitted to his role in a conspiracy to commit money laundering between 2014 and 2020 in the Dominican Republic. Additionally, he acknowledged conspiring to distribute cocaine, aware that it would be transported and distributed in the United States. The recent agreement indicates a more lenient stance by the prosecutors, who initially recommended a sentence of 192 months (approximately 16 years).

Arrested upon his arrival at Miami airport in 2021, Gutiérrez, a former deputy for constituency 1 of Santiago from the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), only resigned from his position in September 2023, two years and four months post-arrest. The capture was a coordinated effort between the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Southern District of Florida’s Prosecutor’s Office, the National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD), and the Attorney General’s Office of the Dominican Republic.