Luis Taveras, Attempted Obstruction of Justice Murder, New York 2016

Defendant Luis Taveras pleaded guilty today in Brooklyn federal court to attempting to obstruct justice through murder, according to a guilty plea proceeding before United States District Judge Roslynn R. Mauskopf.

The case is the result of an ongoing investigation conducted by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), led by the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York and the DEA. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for violence and use of firearms in furtherance of such crimes.

When sentenced, Taveras faces up to 30 years in prison. Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent-in-Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), New York Field Office, Ray Donovan, Special Agent-in-Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Division (DEA), Keith M. Corlett, Superintendent, New York State Police (NYSP), and Dermot F. Shea, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the guilty plea.

The message of this prosecution is clear – anyone who carries out such a crime, wherever committed, is not beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement, stated United States Attorney Donoghue. The defendant's crime was not only an attack on an individual victim, it was also an attack on our system of justice.

In his attempt to stop a man from providing information to the U.S. by leading a hitman right to him, Taveras now stands to serve time for his role in this conspiracy, stated HSI Special Agent-in-Charge Fitzhugh. HSI's partnerships domestically and internationally directly enhances our ability to arrest and prosecute those who seek to obstruct justice to hide from the truth.

Taveras participated in the attempted murder of an individual he knew from prior narcotics transactions and believed to be cooperating with U.S. law enforcement. On June 21, 2016, Tavares entered a restaurant in Cali, Colombia, and sat down at a table with the victim. Shortly thereafter, Taveras stood up, walked to the back of the restaurant, and watched as a co-conspirator entered the restaurant and fired eight shots – wounding the victim in the shoulder and arm, and also wounding two family members of the victim, including a five-year-old child. Taveras and his co-conspirator then fled. The three victims survived their wounds. The harrowing attack was captured on videotape in the restaurant.

Taveras's arrest and guilty plea are the results of an ongoing investigation conducted by the OCDETF. On February 21, 2019, Taveras was arrested by federal law enforcement agents in Miami. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for violence and use of firearms in furtherance of such crimes.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/defendant-pleads-guilty-brooklyn-federal-court-attempted-obstruction-justice-murder