Prosecutors and victim’s lawyers successfully appealed the previous ruling, reviving a decade-old case. The First Criminal Chamber of the National District Court of Appeals annulled a previous ruling that dismissed the case against Italian-Canadian businessman Antonio Carbone, who is accused of orchestrating a 2014 car bombing. The court ordered a new trial for Carbone on charges of attempted murder.
The new trial will be held before the same court that issued the original dismissal, the Second Collegiate Court of the National District, but with a new panel of judges.
The ruling was issued by a court panel led by judge Doris Josefina Pujols Ortiz, with judges Rafael Báez García and Daisy Indhira Montás Pimentel. They sided with the appeals filed by both the Public Ministry and the legal team for the alleged victim, former Puerto Plata-based Dream Casinos manager Fernando Báez Guerrero.
The appeals court’s decision explicitly states: “This court annuls in its entirety the criminal sentence, by which the criminal action in favor of Antonio Carbone was declared extinct; and, consequently, revokes the challenged decision.”
The previous ruling, which had dismissed the charges against Carbone, was issued on 4 February 2025. This had marked a reversal of an earlier conviction, in which Carbone was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the crime.
Carbone is accused of causing an explosion in Báez Guerrero’s vehicle in 2014. According to Báez Guerrero, a minor change in his daily routine saved his life. He reportedly exited his Jaguar minutes before the blast, whereas he would typically stay inside the car for a short time after parking.
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Listin Diario
1 September 2025