Mocobizscene- Alberico Crespo, a man with a long history of public service, shared his story before being escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs. He began his journey in the U.S. Air Force and later served in the Hialeah Police Department. From there, he transitioned to the Drug Enforcement Administration and ultimately found himself working for the Health and Human Services in Miami. As he spoke, Crespo couldn’t help but tremble, reflecting the weight of his current situation.
“I deeply regret my actions,” expressed Crespo, 49, as he addressed the federal judge. “I acknowledge that I have disappointed everyone.”
U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles didn’t show much sympathy towards Crespo despite his extensive experience as a soldier, police officer, and federal agent. Judge Gayles sentenced Crespo to eight years in prison after he was convicted in August for shielding a group of painkiller traffickers in Hialeah. Crespo’s agency, Health and Human Services, along with the FBI, were investigating the said ring.
Around 25 supporters, including his wife, other family members, and colleagues, were taken aback by the prison sentence and couldn’t hold back their tears as Crespo bid them farewell.
Gayles explained that he had valid reasons for delivering a powerful blow to Crespo.
During the court proceedings in Miami, Gayles addressed the audience, acknowledging that Mr. Crespo had led a law-abiding life prior to this incident. He emphasized that Mr. Crespo had served as a public servant before the situation unfolded.
The judge then directed his attention towards Crespo, expressing his disappointment by stating, “You have betrayed the public trust with your actions. You have also betrayed law enforcement.”
Many of his supporters were shocked when they learned that the judge had sentenced Crespo to more prison time than the ringleader who sold thousands of pills of Oxycodone on the streets of Hialeah. Crespo, who was convicted of obstructing justice but acquitted of drug trafficking, received a harsher sentence. In contrast, Jorge Diaz Gutierrez, who played a fatherly role in Crespo’s life, received just over six years in prison after pleading guilty to distributing painkillers and obstructing justice as part of a cooperation deal that required his testimony.
Tale of the tapes
During the trial in August, Diaz provided testimony stating that Crespo had functioned as a personal informant for the dealer. The purpose of Crespo’s role was to safeguard the dealer from being apprehended by federal agents who were conducting an investigation into a street-level drug ring. This particular ring was involved in the illicit sale of Oxycodone through a doctor’s office located in Hialeah.
The dealer and the agent were incredibly close, to the point where the dealer rented an efficiency apartment behind the agent’s home in Hialeah. He even took on the role of the agent’s “babalawo,” acting as a high priest during Santeria religious rituals. However, during the trial, Diaz testified under oath and incriminated Crespo. He spoke about the various court-approved wiretap recordings of their cellphone conversations.
Diaz, 68, testified that the man assured her that he would not leave her alone in this situation and that he would take care of everything.
The overwhelming evidence presented through the tapes told a compelling story. Crespo was found guilty by a 12-person federal jury on charges of conspiring to commit witness tampering and three other related charges, as well as conspiring to obstruct justice. However, the jury acquitted Crespo of the main charge of conspiring to distribute Oxycodone.
During his sentencing on Wednesday, federal prosecutors argued that Crespo should still be held responsible for the trafficking of Oxydone by the Hialeah ring.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean McLaughlin stated that the defendant was fully aware of the situation from the very beginning. McLaughlin strongly recommended a sentence of 12-1/2 years for Crespo, emphasizing the need for accountability.
Crespo’s defense attorney, Jose Quinon, strongly disagreed with the prosecutor’s reasoning. He argued that his client had been acquitted of selling painkillers and had not received any money from Diaz for protecting his ring.
According to Quinon, Mr. Crespo was not involved in the incident and did not sell any pills. Quinon recommended that Mr. Crespo, who had years of public service prior to his offense, be sentenced to 1-1/2 years in prison.
Judge Gayles dismissed both suggestions and instead opted for the sentencing guidelines put forth by the federal probation office. These guidelines indicated a range of 6-1/2 to 8 years for the defendants. When it came to Crespo, Gayles selected the higher end of the spectrum, questioning why Diaz, the Hialeah dealer, would take such a risk.
Crespo, an experienced agent who collaborated with other HHS and FBI agents on a healthcare strike force for the last decade, faced trial in August. He was accused of informing Diaz and his team of patient recruiters and pill peddlers about the ongoing federal investigation into painkiller trafficking.
The extensive recordings from Diaz’s cellphone not only raised suspicions about why the dealer had been in daily contact with the HHS agent for several months, but the tapes also implicated them in an expanding Medicare fraud probe. This investigation eventually transformed into an FBI corruption inquiry, ultimately resulting in their arrests in July 2020.
According to McLaughlin, Crespo is a corrupt agent, plain and simple. He accused Crespo of knowing the dealer since 2016 and providing him with crucial developments in the healthcare fraud probe during the trial.
According to McLaughlin, who collaborated with prosecutor Christopher Clark on the corruption case, Crespo engaged in discussions with Diaz regarding the elimination of potential informants within his pill-mill network who may have been cooperating with federal authorities during the investigation.
According to Quinon, the defense attorney, he was unaware of Diaz’s illegal activities as a drug dealer or his participation in the painkiller-distribution racket in Hialeah. Quinon argued that it was Diaz who lied about Crespo’s involvement in protecting him, in an attempt to receive a lesser prison sentence.
According to Quinon, Diaz was not only a con artist but also a charlatan and manipulator. He used the Health and Human Services agent as a stooge to safeguard himself while secretly profiting from the illegal sale of painkillers on the streets. Crespo, the agent, had no knowledge of Diaz’s activities. Quinon claimed that Diaz had the ability to manipulate the agent through Santeria rituals, which involved communicating with the deceased and foreseeing the future.
“He really got inside this guy’s head,” Quinon emphasized to the jurors in his closing statement. “Diaz became an almost mythical figure in Crespo’s eyes.”
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