A former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration supervisor, Manny Recio, was sentenced to three years in prison for bribing a colleague to leak DEA intelligence to defense lawyers in Miami. The bribery scheme involved providing sensitive information about drug investigations to lawyers looking to profit from the timing of indictments. Recio’s former colleague, John Costanzo Jr., was sentenced to four years in prison for orchestrating the $100,000 bribery scheme. The federal jury convicted Recio of bribery and honest-services wire fraud, highlighting a wave of misconduct cases involving DEA agents accused of corruption and other federal crimes.
Recio, who spent over two decades at the DEA, made an emotional apology during his sentencing hearing, acknowledging his conviction and the impact it had on his life. He admitted to losing everything, including his life savings, and expressed remorse for his actions. Despite retiring from the DEA in 2018, Recio maintained a close relationship with Costanzo and began working as a private investigator for defense lawyers in Miami. Prosecutors argued that Recio’s greed motivated him to engage in unlawful activities, pointing to his extravagant spending habits, including the purchase of a 2021 Porsche Macan.
Following the conviction of Recio and Costanzo, federal prosecutors shifted their focus to the defense lawyers, David Macey and Luis Guerra, who allegedly funded the bribery scheme. The prosecutors obtained clearance to review privileged communications between the lawyers and Recio, but Macey and Guerra have not been charged or offered any comments on the matter. Text messages and wiretapped phone calls between the two former DEA supervisors played a crucial role in the prosecution, revealing their efforts to access confidential DEA information and use it for personal gain.
Recio’s defense attorneys portrayed him as a generous friend and mentor who was introduced to Macey and Guerra by Costanzo. They sought a more lenient sentence of 18 months, emphasizing Recio’s positive contributions as an investigator in complex cases where defendants cooperated with the DEA. Despite the defense’s arguments, the judge sentenced Recio to three years in prison, emphasizing the seriousness of his crimes and their impact on DEA investigations. The case underscored the prevalence of corruption within law enforcement agencies and the consequences for those who abuse their positions for personal gain.
