Ex-Guaynabo, Puerto Rico Mayor O'Neill pleads guilty in plea deal

Former Guaynabo Mayor Héctor O’Neill García pleaded guilty on Wednesday after reaching an agreement with the prosecution ahead of a trial in which he faced charges of sexual assault, Act 54 domestic abuse and harassment in the workplace, along with a violation of the Government Ethics Law.

Judge María Trigo Ferraiouli reportedly accepted the reclassification of crimes, as well as the removal of the electronic bracelet used by O’Neill García.

The former mayor of Guaynabo said his guilty plea was made “freely and voluntarily.”

Last week, the ex-mayor’s defense team, led by attorney Harry Padilla, waived the right to a jury trial.

In 2017, the Justice secretary recommended that a special independent prosecutor be assigned to O’Neill, who, according to the Justice Department’s investigation, could have committed 20 law violations against two victims. The Justice secretary said O’Neill made a transactional agreement with a woman involved, a municipal police officer who made the sexual harassment suit against the mayor public. The other victim, a woman whose identity wasn’t revealed, resides abroad, but “had agreed to cooperate.”

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