The Attorney General Office reports it has taken legal actions to keep the case against Pedro Alejandro Castillo Paniagua (Quirinito) from prescribing. State prosecutors obtained a declaration in absentia from the Criminal Chamber of the Appeals Court of San Francisco de Macorís.
Quirinito was sentenced to 30 years in jail in 2008 for the murder of Spanish citizen Gustavo Adolfo Cervantes. But he was able to finagle himself through the system get a legal opinion that authorized him house arrest after only serving six years in jail. His lawyers successfully argued the man was dying from cancer. He was reported dead and eventually disappeared. There have not been reports that those who participated in his disappearance have been under arrest, etc.
Quirinito is also linked to drug trafficking. He is the nephew of infamous Quirino Ernesto Paulino Castillo, who was extradited to the United States where he was tried and later returned after reaching a deal with the US Justice Department. A large part of his assets were returned to him.
The decision now taken by the Criminal Chamber of the Appeals Court of San Francisco de Macorís, protected by article 100 of the Criminal Procedure Code, orders the arrest of Pedro Alejandro Castillo Paniagua and the publishing of his data in the media to motivate his search and arrest and the preservation of the media evidence to serve in the case of an eventual trial.
Castillo Paniagua was serving a 30-year sentence for the 2008 murder of Spanish citizen Gustavo Adolfo Cervantes. In 2013, a collegiate court in Baní reduced his sentence to 20 years, which he was serving in the Najayo prison.
His escape occurred while serving under house arrest in San Francisco de Macorís, where he was sent to serve a sentence at his residence on the allegation that he suffered from tongue carcinoma.
The Public Ministry, headed by Attorney General Miriam Germán Brito, established that under no circumstances can the process followed by Castillo Paniagua be allowed to prescribe, which is why it requested the default to suspend the prescription under the provisions of Articles 47 and 100 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The processes against Castillo Paniagua will remain open even while Quirinito is fugitive with his whereabouts not known or revealed by the local authorities.
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Attorney General Office
Listin Diario
Diario Libre
29 August 2023