Governor Jenniffer González said Tuesday that her 2024 campaign was not linked to a vote-buying scheme in Puerto Rico’s prisons.

“I reject any allegation seeking to attribute unlawful acts to me, such as the defamatory publication in a national outlet regarding alleged schemes during the past four-year term that are now being tied to my campaign. This is an attempt by those who want to tarnish my reputation, and they will not succeed,” González said in a written statement.

The governor — as her former campaign director and now chief of staff, Francisco Domenech, had done hours earlier — distanced herself from an alleged scheme to buy votes in her favor with drugs, purportedly carried out by the criminal organization Grupo 31 (Group 31), also known as “Los Tiburones” (The Sharks).

According to ProPublica, although investigators had solid evidence against inmates and correctional system officials, and were preparing charges and seeking to determine whether González or her campaign team were involved, leadership at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Juan ordered that allegations of vote-buying be excluded from the case against members of Group 31.

The publication noted that the governor was not available to respond to its questions.

“Any federal investigation that exists, if it exists, must predate my administration. This report is commissioned by the same people who want to continue trying to tarnish my reputation. I will remain focused on doing the work on behalf of the people,” said González, president of the New Progressive Party (NPP) and an ally of Trump, adding that she has fought corruption and “respected democratic processes.”

Federal prosecutors filed charges in December 2024 against 34 people linked to Group 31, accused of distributing drugs to nearly all prisons in Puerto Rico, largely using drones.

When the arrests were carried out on December 17, 2024, U.S. Attorney William Stephen Muldrow said that “Group 31 was formally created in 1998” and that “its main objective was to establish and promote communication with the government to seek better opportunities for inmates.”

The December 2024 charges included counts of drug distribution — actions that caused at least four deaths — money laundering and firearms possession. The drug-for-votes scheme, rather than cash, is described in the indictment, but no criminal charges were filed on that matter.

“Individuals who did not vote for candidates backed by Grupo 31 were subject to reprisals, including being denied illegal substances,” the indictment states.

Shortly after President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, prosecutor Jorge Matos, who led the investigation, was instructed to discontinue the probe. Matos, who was not available to the news outlet, resigned from the Justice Department in June 2025.

“During the campaign process, we listened to all sectors of the population to ensure public policies addressed the needs of all American citizens in Puerto Rico, and this included my campaign team and me meeting with family members of inmates concerned about rehabilitation and reintegration into society,” the governor said.

Like Domenech, González argued that the clearest evidence her team was not linked to any illegality involving inmate voting is that “during the 2024 primary, the correctional population voted overwhelmingly against me and in favor of former Governor Pedro Pierluisi.”

“As part of that campaign, I also rejected requests from inmates’ relatives to keep former Corrections Secretary Ana Escobar in her position,” she added.

Regarding initiatives promoted by her administration, González said she is “committed to the rehabilitation of inmates and their reintegration into society.”

Referring to her policy platform, González highlighted “initiatives such as the eradication of Hepatitis C in prisons, virtual learning opportunities for incarcerated people in higher education institutions, and increased investment in social workers assigned to prisons as evidence of our commitment.”