The presidential pardon - full - granted by Donald Trump to former governor Wanda Vázquez Garced, convicted of corruption, and two co-defendants, does not mean an end to questions related to the case, particularly regarding the future of two cooperating witnesses who also made admissions of guilt but were not pardoned.

They are Frances Díaz, former president of the international bank Bancrédito, and John Blakeman, collaborator and fundraiser of Vázquez Garced’s electoral campaign. In March 2022, both pleaded guilty - separately - as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, of participating in a bribery scheme to finance the former governor’s 2020 election campaign.

Díaz and Blakeman, who cooperated with federal authorities in the case, were not included in the presidential pardon granted to Vázquez Garced -the first former governor of Puerto Rico to be convicted after pleading guilty to a felony-, Venezuelan banker Julio Herrera Velutini and financial advisor Mark Rossini.

Originally, Blakeman and Diaz - who could face a maximum sentence of five years in prison - were to be sentenced in July and June 2022, respectively, but the granting of extensions in both cases keeps the sentences up in the air. At the moment, their files do not contain a new sentencing date.

Carlos A. Perez-Irizarry, who is representing Diaz, declined to comment Saturday on the development of the case. Meanwhile, it has not been possible to contact Anita Hill-Adames, Blakeman’s attorney.

Blakeman was administrator of Public Housing between December 1997 and June 1998, during the Pedro Rosselló González administration. In 2001, he was confirmed as director of the San Juan Housing Department under the administration of former mayor Jorge Santini. In 2008, he was a legislative aide to Rosselló González, then a senator. In 2018, he served as chief operating officer of the Electric Power Authority.

Neither Blakeman nor Diaz - who chaired the convicted Herrera Velutini’s bank - got to testify at trial against the co-defendants, as all three pleaded guilty last August, after reaching plea agreements, in the Federal Court for the District of Puerto Rico.

In the case of the three convicts pardoned by Trump, the sentencing hearing was scheduled for January 29.

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This content was translated from Spanish to English using artificial intelligence and was reviewed by an editor before being published.