SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A prominent mayor in Puerto Rico accused of awarding 50 contracts worth nearly $10 million to an asphalt company has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and receive kickbacks, federal officials said Thursday.
Félix Delgado, who served as mayor of the north coastal town of Cataño, resigned on Tuesday and is scheduled to be sentenced in March 2022 as part of a deal with authorities. He faces up to five years in prison.
U.S. Attorney Stephen Muldrow said officials have confiscated five luxury watches and more than $100,000 in cash as part of the case.
“The scheme...was not very complicated,” he said, adding that the former mayor met with the company owner in several places in Cataño to receive the watches and cash in a scheme that ran from 2017 to 2021.
Muldrow said a federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted the company owner on three counts including bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery and kickbacks. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
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