Judge Denies to Move High-Profile Puerto Rican Corruption Trial to US

(Photo : FEMA/Elizer Hernandez)

A federal judge decided against moving an upcoming corruption trial against former Puerto Rico education secretary to the US mainland. 

Former Puerto Rico Education Secretary Julia Keleher was denied her request to move her trial to the US Mainland, a decision celebrated by many in the US territory who believe she should be tried where the crimes occurred. 

Julia Keleher's defense attorney and a former White House counsel Lanny Davis remain unsure whether they planned to appeal on the judge's decision. Keleher's defense attorneys argued Keleher would not receive a fair trial in Puerto Rico.

Keleher grew up in the suburbs in Philadelphia and graduated from a catholic school called Cardinal O'Hara High School. She went on to earn her bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Pennsylvania. 

She worked at the Red Clay Consolidated School District in Wilmington, Delaware for seven years, starting from a guidance counselor and working her way up to special assistant to the superintendent.

Julia Keleher was indicted January 15 of this year on federal allegedly offering up public school land in exchange for help buying a luxury apartment. 

The charges came after accusations of public corruption in July of 2019 where she and five others were said to be part of a conspiracy that illegally directed more than $15 in federal funds to an organization with personal and political connections. Keleher and her co-defendants pleaded not guilty to the said charges. 

Keleher was accused of giving over 1,034 square feet of space to a real estate company that owns the Ciudadela apartment complex located in San Juan. The company allowed Keleher to rent the apartment in Ciudadela from June to December 2018 for just $1. 

Keleher bought a two-bedroom at Ciudadela for $295,000 and received an incentive bonus of $12,000. A consultant named Ariel Gutierrez-Rodriguez was said to have helped facilitate the lease agreement with Keleher. 

The January charges against Keleher included bribery, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit honest services fraud has Keleher facing up to 30 years in prison. 

(Photo : NotiCel)

Keleher, who resigned from her post in April 2019, had an unusually high salary of $250,000 a year. Her resignation faced heavy criticism over the closure of more than 400 schools. She was also preparing to create charter schools and vouchers as ordered by Puerto Rico's former governor. 

Prior to the indictments, she described herself as a crusader against widespread corruption within the country's education department. 

Keleher dismissed a reporter's question about rumors of federal investigations during the Yale event. "Investigations have been happening at the Department of Education since forever," she said.

Keleher worked on a US Department of Education team whose objectives were to fix compliance problems involving waste, fraud, and mismanagement of federal funds in Puerto Rico's school system. The very issues were what led to a conviction of another former education secretary nearly two decades earlier. 

Friends and former colleagues of the accused described her as a fierce advocate who had little sympathy for those lacking her single-minded work ethic. They also say she's too tough to get involved in someone else's schemes. 

Speaking of Keleher's monitoring duties, CEO and chief scientist at edCount Ellen Forte said, "She just wants to cut through all of the crap, essentially, to get something done. It's surreal in a way that someone who was doing this is suddenly charged with being a criminal."