WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump plans to pardon former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda V谩zquez, a White House official said Friday.
V谩zquez pleaded guilty last August to in a federal case that authorities say also involved a former FBI agent and a Venezuelan banker. Her sentencing was set for later this month.
Federal prosecutors had been seeking one year behind bars, something that V谩zquez鈥檚 attorneys opposed as they accused prosecutors of violating a guilty plea deal reached last year that saw previous charges including bribery and fraud dropped.
They noted that V谩zquez had agreed to plead guilty to accepting a promise of a campaign contribution that was never received.
Attorneys for V谩zquez did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The official who confirmed the planned pardon indicated Trump saw the case as political prosecution and said the investigation into V谩zquez, a Republican aligned with the pro-statehood New Progressive Party, had begun 10 days after she endorsed Trump in 2020. The official wasn鈥檛 authorized to reveal the news by name and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
CBS News was the first to report the plan to pardon V谩zquez.
Pablo Jos茅 Hern谩ndez, Puerto Rico’s representative in Congress and a member of the island’s main opposition party, condemned a pardon for V谩zquez.
鈥淚mpunity protects and fosters corruption. The pardon … undermines public integrity, shatters faith in justice, and offends those of us who believe in honest governance,鈥� said Hern谩ndez, a Democrat with Puerto Rico’s Popular Democratic Party.
V谩zquez, an attorney, was the U.S. territory鈥檚 first former governor to plead guilty to a crime, specifically accepting a donation from a foreigner for her 2020 political campaign.
She and accused of engaging in a bribery scheme from December 2019 through June 2020 while governor. At the time, she told reporters that she was innocent.
Authorities said that Puerto Rico鈥檚 Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions was investigating an international bank owned by Venezuelan Julio Mart铆n Herrera Velutini because of alleged suspicious transactions that had not been reported by the bank.
Authorities said Herrera and Mark Rossini, a former FBI agent who provided consulting services to Herrera, allegedly promised to support V谩zquez鈥檚 campaign if she dismissed the commissioner and appointing a new one of Herrera鈥檚 choosing.
Authorities said V谩zquez demanded the commissioner鈥檚 resignation in February 2020 after allegedly accepting the bribery offer. She also was accused of appointing a new commissioner in May 2020: a former consultant for Herrera鈥檚 bank.
V谩zquez was the second woman to serve as Puerto Rico鈥檚 governor and the first former governor to face federal charges.
She was sworn in as governor in August 2019 after following massive protests. V谩zquez served until 2021, after losing the primaries of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party to former Gov. Pedro Pierluisi.
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Associated Press reporter D谩nica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed.
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