Miami professor linked to Saab sentenced to six months on money laundering charges in Venezuela

A former teacher of the University of Miami He was sentenced to six months in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to charges of helping launder embezzled funds from Venezuela on behalf of the Colombian businessman. Alex Saab.

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The case came to attention last week, when in a request from lawyers for lenient sentencing, Bruce Bagley noted that his client was told that Saab, a close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, met with US security officials. years ago to provide information on the socialist government of Maduro.

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“I am ashamed of my irresponsible behavior,” Bagley said in Tuesday’s virtual hearing in federal court in Manhattan.

Saab, a Colombian national, was a key intermediary in Caracas’ efforts to circumvent US sanctions before his arrest in June 2020 in Cape Verde with a US warrant. Saab was extradited to Miami in October and this week pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Prosecutors said Bagley, who was arrested in November 2019, received $ 2.5 million in overseas accounts controlled by Saab and withheld a commission. Bagley, 75, acknowledged receiving the money, but said the purpose was to pay the lawyers advising Saab on their cooperation with US authorities.

Saab never worked against the interests of Venezuela, his lawyer said last week.

Bagley’s attorneys requested that their client not be jailed due to his age and poor health. Prosecutors said Bagley should be jailed, arguing that he had shown “no serious remorse” but nonetheless recommended a sentence below the 46-57 month guideline.

Bagley studied drug trafficking and organized crime in Latin America as an academic, which, according to US District Judge Jed Rakoff, took into account in his decision to impose a prison sentence.

“If there was anyone in the world who knew that this type of activity was criminal, it was Dr. Bagley,” Rakoff added at the hearing.

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Deshawn