Diplomatic Security Arrests Additional Suspect for Assault on Consul General

Bureau of Diplomatic Security
U.S. Department of State
Washington, DC

IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 21, 2005

On December 19, 2005, U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Special Agents and officers of the Police of Puerto Rico, assisted by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, arrested an individual for conspiracy to assault a foreign official in Carolina, Puerto Rico.
 

Jared Joshua Pérez Castro had been under investigation by Diplomatic Security following the armed robbery of the Consul General of Costa Rica in August.  He was charged in the District of Puerto Rico in a superceding indictment with multiple felony counts, including conspiracy to assault a foreign official, brandishing a deadly weapon, assault on a foreign official, brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, unlawfully delaying and affecting interstate commerce by robbery, and unlawfully taking or obtaining property.
  

Pérez Castro is accused of conspiring with Salvi Rafael Benítez Ávila and Tania Mary Rosario Agosto, to assault a foreign official. Agosto is alleged to have provided relevant information to Benítez Ávila and Pérez Castro, who then used an automatic weapon to rob the Consul General.  Diplomatic Security and other law enforcement agents arrested Avila and Agosto in October 2005.   The maximum sentence for the combined charges is more than 20 years imprisonment.
 

“The protection of foreign diplomats while in the United States is one of Diplomatic Security’s most important responsibilities,” stated Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security Richard J. Griffin.  “Diplomatic Security worked closely with local and other federal authorities to identify the assailants and bring them to justice.”

The defendant is scheduled to have his preliminary hearing on December 20, 2005 in the District of Puerto Rico. An indictment is a charging document and not evidence of guilt.  A defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.