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Bronx Politics and Community events
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Defendant is the Former President of El Salvador’s Soccer Federation
Reynaldo Vasquez, the former president of the El Salvadorean soccer federation (“the Federation”) was sentenced by United States District Judge Pamela K. Chen to 16 months’ imprisonment in connection with over $350,000 in bribes that he and other soccer officials from El Salvador received from an American company in exchange for the sale of broadcast rights to the El Salvador soccer team’s World Cup qualifier and friendly matches. Vasquez pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy in August 2021. The defendant was indicted in November 2015 and extradited to the United States from El Salvador in 2021. As part of his plea agreement, Vasquez had previously agreed to forfeit $360,000 to the government.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced the sentence.
“The defendant and his co-conspirators, motivated by greed, disgraced themselves by lining their pockets with hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, at the expense of a beautiful sport, El Salvador’s soccer federation, and the community it served,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “Vasquez has now been held to account, like the many other corrupt soccer officials who have been exposed by the government’s investigation.”
Mr. Peace thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Los Angeles Field Office (IRS-CI), for their exceptional investigative work, and the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs for its assistance with extradition of the defendant in this matter.
From approximately 2009 through 2011, Vasquez served as the President of the Federación Salvadoreña de Fútbol. Vasquez and his co-conspirators participated in and corrupted an enterprise comprising soccer organizing bodies and sports marketing companies. As part of his association with that enterprise, Vasquez and others solicited and received bribes and kickbacks in exchange for awarding lucrative media and marketing contracts. In 2012, Vasquez, together with other current and former officials of the federation, received approximately $350,000 in bribes in connection with the sale of media and marketing rights to El Salvador World Cup qualifying matches to be played in advance of the 2018 World Cup. This bribe payment was wired from a sports marketing company’s bank account in the United States. Vasquez ultimately received a portion of his bribe money through a wire transfer sent through the United States. In 2014 and 2015, Vasquez and others agreed to receive tens of thousands of dollars in bribes in connection with the participation of the Salvadorean national team in friendly matches to be played in the United States.
The sentence announced today is part of a long-running investigation into corruption in international soccer led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, the FBI New York Field Office, and the IRS-CI Los Angeles Field Office. To date, the prosecution has resulted in 27 individual guilty pleas, 4 corporate guilty pleas, and 2 convictions at trial, among other resolutions. The prosecutors in Brooklyn have received considerable assistance from attorneys in various parts of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division in Washington, D.C., including the Office of International Affairs, the Organized Crime and Gang Section, the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, and the Fraud Section, as well as from INTERPOL Washington, and various foreign governments.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today released the draft New York’s Great Lakes Action Agenda 2022-2030, a multi-year action plan to guide restoration and conservation, and foster sustainable, resilient, communities in New York’s Great Lakes region. The Action Agenda advances a wide range of efforts to safeguard water quality, improve habitats for fish and wildlife, manage invasive species, promote sustainability, and enhance community resilience to climate change in a region that spans more than 40 percent of New York State’s land area and includes Lake Erie, the Niagara River, Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River, and respective watersheds.
“The updated Agenda takes Great Lakes restoration and protection to the next level by building on and further leveraging the successful efforts advanced by the first Agenda released in 2014,” DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said. “DEC will continue to strengthen and diversify our partnerships with State and local partners, effectively respond to our most pressing environmental challenges like climate change, and ensure that present and future generations continue to benefit from the high-quality water and natural resources of the Great Lakes region.”
In support of New York’s ecosystem-based management goals, the Great Lakes Action Agenda (GLAA) promotes collaborative, science-informed decision-making to achieve outcomes that support the needs of people, nature, and the economy. The draft 2022-2030 GLAA includes new cross-cutting priorities that reflect the State’s commitment to inclusion and engagement of diverse stakeholders and historically underserved communities. The updated GLAA also proposes new metrics for evaluating implementation progress and improvements in environmental conditions over time.
The GLAA is funded by the State's Environmental Protection Fund (EPF), under the Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Act, and is administered through DEC’s Great Lakes Program with collaborating stakeholders and partners. Among the many environmental victories in the 2022-23 State Budget, Governor Hochul succeeded in increasing the EPF from $300 to $400 million, the highest-ever level of funding in the program's history. The EPF provides funding for critical environmental programs and projects such as land acquisition, farmland protection, invasive species prevention and eradication, enhanced recreational access, water quality improvement, climate change resilience, and environmental justice, to ensure all New Yorker’s benefit from sustained ecosystem services, such as drinking water, swimming, and fishing.
The draft Action Agenda is available on DEC’s website at: http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/
Wednesday night September 28th the Bronx Republican Party held its first Annual Dinner since 2019 because of the pandemic. The ballroom at Villa Barone was filled with almost four hundred supporters of the Bronx Republican Party and its candidates for office.
Former New York State Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox and Ms. Dawn Sandow were the Guests of Honor. A surprise guest was former Democratic Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr. who sat with his choice of candidates for the 14th Congressional District Ms. Tina Forte the candidate of the Republican and Conservative Parties of the Bronx. All of the statewide candidates on the Republican and Conservative party lines were in attendance with the exception of Lee Zeldin the candidate for governor who had a family emergency at home.
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