Man Sentenced To Life In Prison For Carjacking Murder

 SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – U.S. District Court Judge Francisco A. Besosa sentenced Argenis Bruzón-Velázquez to life in prison for the carjacking murder of David Dubique on April 14, 2017, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.

According to the facts admitted during the change of plea hearing, on the evening of April 14, 2017, Argenis Bruzón-Velázquez, Candy Cedeño-González, Tatiana Yari Giusti Saldaña, Ariel González-Almestica, and an adult male whose alias is “Cachete” were socializing at the El Prado Public Housing Project, and discussed the possibility of committing a robbery.  Giusti-Saldaña mentioned that she knew people in Condado could have money.  Bruzón-Velázquez, his co-defendants and Cachete then traveled to Condado in González-Almestica’s vehicle, a red Dodge Caliber. Upon arriving in Condado, Cedeño-González and Giusti-Saldaña exited the Dodge Caliber and went to the Stop and Go bar located on Magdalena Avenue.

At the Stop and Go bar, Cachete and Bruzón-Velázquez remained in the vicinity, observing as Cedeño-Gonzalez and Giusti-Saldaña spoke to several men. At one point, Cedeño-Gonzalez and Giusti-Saldaña walked with one of the men with whom they had been speaking—David Dubique—across the street from the Stop and Go bar. Bruzón-Velázquez followed Giusti-Saldaña and Dubique.  Once Giusti-Saldaña and Dubique arrived at Dubique’s vehicle, a Ford Transit, Bruzón-Velázquez and Cachete forced Dubique into his vehicle at gunpoint, departed the area in the Ford Transit and drove to a desolate area in Aguas Buenas.  There, Bruzón-Velázquez forced Dubique to exit the Ford Transit and shot him multiple times with a .40 caliber Glock pistol.            

After shooting and killing Dubique, Bruzón-Velázquez drove the Ford Transit to a location a short distance away; Cachete rode in the Ford Transit with Bruzón-Velázquez.  González-Almestica, Giusti-Saldaña, and Cedeño-González followed the Ford Transit inside the Dodge Caliber; then abandoned the Ford Transit and returned to the El Prado Public Housing Project in the Dodge Caliber.

In a separate incident, on June 21, 2017, Bruzón-Velázquez brandished a rifle and another individual brandished a handgun while attempting to dispossess an adult male of his Mercedes Benz in Barrio San Antonio de Caguas.  When confronted with an armed individual who attempted to intervene, Bruzón-Velázquez discharged the rifle he was carrying.  Bruzón-Velázquez and the individual he was with then fled the scene. Judge Besosa imposed a 15-year sentence to be served consecutively to the life sentence he imposed in connection with the incident involving the murder of Dubique.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was in charge of the investigation.  Assistant United States Attorneys Alexander Alum and Jenifer Y. Hernández prosecuted the case.