The U.S. Attorney’s Office has asked a South Florida court to postpone until April 2022 the trial of Dominican Rep. Miguel Andres Gutierrez Diaz, who has been detained since last May in Miami, where he faces drug charges.
The Prosecutor’s Office asked for more time to prepare for the trial, which is scheduled for next Monday, according to a document from the Prosecutor’s Office to which Efe had access.
The 58-year-old lawmaker was arrested at Miami airport on May 17 on arrival on a flight from his home country and four days later was formally charged, prosecutors recalled.
According to the formal indictment issued by a grand federal jury in Miami on March 11, from approximately 2014 to 2017, Congressman Gutiérrez Díaz was part of a transnational drug trafficking network operating in the Republic. Dominican Republic, Colombia and the United States.
The deputy along with his brother Miguel Emilio Gutiérrez, and brothers Endy and Danny Núñez are accused of conspiring to import and distribute cocaine in the United States and face life in prison if found guilty.
In arguments to delay the trial, the prosecution argued that Deputy Federal Prosecutor Ellen D’Angelo, in charge of the case, is pending another trial for E Sept. 13, which could last 6 to 8 weeks.
The Prosecutor’s Office has also noted that continuity is required to complete the investigation and properly prepare for the trial of the Dominican congressman.
“Several of the witnesses the United States hopes to call are imprisoned, both in the South Florida District and elsewhere,” he said.
He further recalled that under the pandemic, “the ability to conduct interviews with witnesses in person is limited.”
He noted that in addition to analyzing “thousands of intercepted communications” sent by the Government of the Dominican Republic and that will be part of the evidence.
“At least a four-month extension is needed to properly complete the discovery and prepare the case for trial,” the prosecution detailed in its motion filed in court.