The attorney for Caymanian businessman Bryce Merren has initiated talks for a plea agreement in Mr. Merren’s criminal case, according to documents filed with U.S. federal court in Puerto Rico.
U.S. Homeland Security investigators arrested Merren in March over what they alleged was an attempt to set up a money laundering operation to cover up planned drug smuggling activities.
“Certainly this attorney can categorically state we will not recommend trial to this client based on the weight of the evidence, amongst other reasons,” read a motion filed by attorney Jennie Mariel Espada in federal court Monday. The motion seeks additional time and asks that Merren’s Aug. 15 trial date be delayed. “At this point, we believe he will not exercise his right to trial,” the motion states.
Ms. Espada said her office is arranging to meet with Merren at the federal prison in Atlanta, Georgia, to discuss “the benefits of entering a plea in this case and avoid the risk of trial.” Merren was moved to the U.S. mainland in June from the federal jail in Puerto Rico for unspecified reasons. It is still up to Merren to decide whether he will waive his constitutionally-guaranteed right to trial. Ms. Espada has asked the court for another 45 days to facilitate that consideration.
According to publicly available court records in the U.S., a probable cause affidavit filed by Homeland Security Special Agent Harry Schmidt alleges that Merren met at different times with two undercover federal agents who posed as accomplices in setting up a drug smuggling operation in Puerto Rico. The records allege that Merren intended to use certain business interests in the Cayman Islands and the southern Caribbean island of Curacao to help launder the money.
Agent Schmidt’s probable cause affidavit states that U.S. federal investigators in San Juan, Puerto Rico, received confidential information in July 2013 that Merren was “seeking to purchase approximately 3,000 kilograms of cocaine and establish a U.S. bank account in order to deposit drug proceeds and make an initial payment for the transportation of narcotics.”
U.S. federal investigators revealed in the court evidence that they also had photographs and video stills of the meetings, held in August 2013, November 2013 and March 2014 in San Juan between Merren, the undercover agents and an identified associate of Merren’s.
The associate is named in publicly available court records, but the Cayman Compass is not identifying him because he has not been charged in relation to the case – as far as the Compass is aware. The newspaper later learned that the individual worked for a trucking company owned by Merren.
Certain records related to the warrant for Merren’s arrest and his financial details have been withheld from release.
According to a ruling issued by U.S. magistrate Camille Velez-Rive earlier this year, there was probable cause to believe Merren had committed an offense for which a “maximum prison term of 10 years or more” is prescribed under U.S. law.
The court also found that no condition would reasonably assure the businessman’s return to Puerto Rico if he were set free pending the grand jury hearings and, therefore, the court could not ensure that the safety of the community would be protected in the event that Merren were released. After this ruling was issued, Merren was moved to the continental U.S., remaining under the supervision of the federal system.
Earlier this year, the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service declined to answer specific questions about whether any local business interests were involved in the Puerto Rican criminal probe. The RCIPS issued a statement about being “in consultation with our U.S. and Puerto Rican colleagues” in relation to the arrest of an unidentified “local businessman.”
The statement did not address whether the RCIPS was investigating any local connection with regard to information turned up in the U.S. money laundering case and directed all questions to Puerto Rican authorities.
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