Blog dedicated to reporting on Mexican drug cartels
on the border line between the US and Mexico
.

Monday, November 14, 2022

Corrupt Ex-DEA Agent Tells AP That Ex-Cleveland Federal Prosecutor Attended Party At His Colombia Home In 2017

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat 

A former federal prosecutor in Cleveland who abruptly backed out of becoming the first Black woman to serve as U.S. Attorney in northern Ohio earlier this year attended a 2017 party where two federal agents took ecstasy at the Colombia home of a now-disgraced U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent, according to an Associated Press report.

Former DEA agent José Irizarry told the AP in a series of interviews before he began serving a 12-year federal prison sentence for laundering money for South American drug cartels that his home on the Caribbean coast of Colombia became a well-known stop for federal law enforcement officials beginning in 2015.

One of the officials he named as attending a party at his home was Marisa Darden, who at the time was an assistant U.S. attorney in Cleveland.

Irizarry told the AP that he witnessed two DEA agents consume ecstasy during the party. He said he did not see Darden consume any drugs. The article did not say if Irizarry claimed that Darden witnessed drug use at the party.

The AP reported that federal officials have interviewed several attendees of that party as recently as this summer.

Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer left voicemails seeking comment from Darden.

Her attorney James Wooley, himself a former federal prosecutor, said in a statement that Darden “cooperated fully and answered all questions” in an FBI background check before her confirmation as the top U.S. attorney in northern Ohio and a separate investigation into allegations of illegal conduct by federal agents.

“There is no evidence that she participated in any illegal activity,” the statement said. “Any statement – or even a suggestion - to the contrary is false.”

Wooley, who has known Darden for decades, added that she is “a terrific lawyer and an even better person.”

Dan Ball, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Cleveland, declined to comment.

Darden is among three current or former federal prosecutors that Irizarry named in the AP story as attending lavish parties or events with him. The other two prosecutors, both located in Miami, denied any wrongdoing to the AP.

Irizarry, 49, pocketed millions of dollars as part of a years-long scheme in which he and others worked with the agency’s informants connected to cartels to steal money seized during undercover stings and launder the money through the black market. He told the AP that drug use and the soliciting of prostitution were rampant among DEA officials, whose job was to wage the U.S.’s war on drugs. Irizarry said that drug agents realized the war was unwinnable.

Irizarry, said who is described in the AP story as the “most corrupt DEA agent in history,” said he used the stolen funds to bankroll an extravagant lifestyle that included his $760,000 home with a rooftop pool that hosted his parties.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s office tapped Darden in November 2021 to fill the U.S. attorney position in Cleveland. The U.S. Senate confirmed Darden in April, making her the first Black woman to be confirmed to be the top federal prosecutor in northern Ohio.

Three weeks later, Darden abruptly withdrew from the position. She said in a statement that she was returning to private practice and “prioritizing family.”

Wooley on Monday declined to address whether the investigation into Irizarry’s claims had any influence over her decision to withdraw.

“Ms. Darden voluntarily withdrew her name from consideration for the U.S. Attorney position for personal and family reasons,” Wooley’s statement said.

Brown’s office released a statement through a spokeswoman.

“At no time in the nomination process was Senator Brown aware of these allegations regarding Ms. Darden,” the statement said.

An unnamed White House official told the AP that Irizarry’s claims did not come up during Darden’s confirmation process.

The U.S. attorney position in Cleveland has remained unfilled and is currently held by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Baeppler.

Cleveland

36 comments:

  1. This fool sure is bringing many people down.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow dancing I'm Medellin om ecstacy cool beans

    ReplyDelete
  3. Replies
    1. Let me help you: but only the Mexicans are corrupt, but our DEA are the good guys, but the WoD can be won if it was not for the evil cartels and the corrupt Mexicans, but the budget for law enforcement has sky-rocketed, but we got the highest imprisonment ratio in the world, but we gotta build the wall

      Delete
  4. Post about Jardineros brother that supposably got killed in Mazatlan
    1

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Send a link you fool, you think Sol has a magic wand?

      Delete
    2. 6:40 YES!!!
      Detroit

      Delete
  5. That's a corrupt agency 💯
    DEA is a legal cartel but only a few that get out of line get a skap on the wrist.
    Many agents and most don't even get prison time

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I suspect your backup for proof is limited, but I speculate your right given BLO was able to pay Mexico’s top cop 500k per month b/f cristal y fent were the money makers they are now

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    3. :27 I suspect your brain cells are limited 🧠

      Delete
  6. This isn’t an isolated case… Shame guys like Freeway Rick had to be the lone “fall guy” even tho US govt officials were moving drugs to them… biggest gang are in law enforcement… corrupt pigs are the worst…

    -Holden D. Cash

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is no surprise. If only they investigated all Southern California agencies. I do not knock the hustle. It is cat and mouse. What gets to me is how many are so naive.

    ReplyDelete
  8. But but the great US gov isnt corrupt and they fight against evil! - US brainwashing public school education.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Private corporate welfare Queens, encroached in the government they hate, have been stealing and charging bribes to enhance the revenue

      Delete
  9. Why nothing on the tweeker caught slipping in Sinaloa?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Send the link, you think Sol can read your mind?

      Delete
  10. Where is the problem for her? She did no drugs at least he could not see it, it was a party from a colleague. Or do we have communism back when just rumors are enough to judge people. There is no s no mention of other wrong doings of her, sure she stepped back but that doesnt mean anything.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. #2:14. All what you write is true. It is also irrelevant. Optics matter. To some degree she is now tainted with scandal, at least for high-profile public positions.

      Delete
    2. But, but, but Hunter's laptop...!

      Delete
    3. Orale SIR for President of Mexico.
      You will be my puppet.

      Delete
    4. 8:03 If you were any good, you'd be a piece of chewing gum on the sidewalk on a hot day...

      Delete
  11. Yeaaaaaaa she just voluntarily resigned. Is that for the company of america to save face??? And why hasnt anyone but irazzary been charged? Is that because politicians and law enforcement get notoriously kow sentences. So the company doesnt loose face. Such BS. Usa is the biggest liars and hipocrits

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 4:39
      Have you heard building up a case with evidence.

      Delete
    2. 5:58 devin nunes, jim jordan, kevin mc carthy, trey Gowdy, the whole Fawx News cast, judge Jemima, silk and diamond etc,etc, etc have brainwashed half the country with their trump bullshit and little else, AND no evidence.

      Delete
    3. Sir you homeboy Trump is running for President. I want to say something about the habitual lier, but Sol will delete it.

      Delete
  12. I mean is this surprising. Just like the government in Mexico do with the big capos the DEA does same thing here. Money corrupts the best of them. Everybody needs more money , right ? Bet a lot of cocaine got waived (or 👋 waved ) through in Columbia as it will continue to get waived through. The naïve public are who believe drug trafficking will ever stop. As long as people get high there will be people willing to take the risk ( for an exorbitant amount of money of course ) to get you what you need. I mean think about the exchange rate from $ to pesos. Sending drugs north is like your own personal gold mine if you’re sitting in Mexico all cash American $ business. I would go as far to say as illegal drugs are the number 1 export in Mexico. That’s why the cartels have the power they have. They literally prop the economy and country up. Sorry , but the proof is in all these articles you read in BB. Hate to say it , but only 1 answer and NO the north will never go down on demand. That’s a fact. We’ll smoke , snort , shoot or drink whatever they send. The demand isn’t the problem the demand has always been there. Mexico has been US go to for contraband since the border has been there. The demand hasn’t just gotten like this. The only thing that has changed in Mexico in that last 20 or so years is the way the government handles narco trafficking which is to go to war. You take that out of equation the violence drops. I say let the PRI back in LoS Pinos and they’ll handle the narcos. They’ve proved they are the only party that can.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Viva El Grampa!

      Delete
    2. AMLO es un chingon!

      Delete
    3. @5:31 AM: Great post ... You see things hidden beyond the veil.
      I agree with about 80% of what you posted.
      Mexico-Watcher

      Delete
    4. At the end ofvthe day those narcopresident from Mexico are puppets for US of A

      Delete
  13. Some people can't handle rags to riches and back the dirty agent should have remained low pro with his winnings and retire humbly in a ranch or modest one floor house not a house in Columbia of all places : no.se.quita.lo.pendejo.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Are we sure he’s not from Snitch-a-Loa. He really is singing like a rata chancludo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 5:22 by his name, he is a portorrhoid with Catalan ancestry...
      Fuck the real madri, futbol soccer and the pinchis barras maniacs good for nothing,

      Delete

Comments are moderated, refer to policy for more information.
Envía fotos, vídeos, notas, enlaces o información
Todo 100% Anónimo;

borderlandbeat@gmail.com