The Court said the government intentionally did not call witnesses, and also found other unconstitutional discovery violations. Judge Hoyt stated at a hearing this morning that many of the defendant's arguments may or may not be equally fatal, but the evidence, as presented, does not support a conviction. He ordered Mr. Rovirosa released immediately.
Importantly, federal prosecutors did not walk away or otherwise forfeit this case; the Court rejected the prosecution on the merits. Under the United States Constitution, this ruling is final and cannot be appealed. Mr. Rovirosa carries no conviction. He is an innocent man.
Research by the R. McConnell Group law firm indicates this is only the fourth time since the FCPA was enacted in 1977 that a United States district court has granted post-trial relief of this kind in an FCPA case.
"A United States district court judged Alex Rovirosa to be innocent after a full trial," said Ryan McConnell, lead defense counsel of the R. McConnell Group PLLC team that also included Matthew Boyden and Lawrence Finder. "That is the strongest ruling our system can give. This case should never have been brought. These prosecutors needed a cartel case, but they didn't have one. So they invented one and pinned it on a Hispanic businessman from Houston. When the evidence fell apart, they doubled down. When the Court ruled Alex innocent, the prosecutors asked that he be kept in a cell anyway. That is not a prosecution. That is an abuse of power."
The prosecutors' case against Mr. Rovirosa had no cooperating witnesses. Instead, their case rested almost entirely on English translations of Spanish text messages — translations that were riddled with errors that no one was willing to stand behind in court. The prosecutors also withheld evidence and trampled Mr. Rovirosa's constitutional rights before, during, and after the trial.
Although prosecutors filed a court paper on day one claiming Mr. Rovirosa had "ties to Mexican cartel members" and then amplified their smear in a subsequent press release, those same prosecutors never brought any cartel charges. No cartel evidence was ever introduced at trial. Witnesses in Mexico, afraid of this fabricated cartel connection the government invented, refused to come testify in Mr. Rovirosa's defense.
The cartel smear was not the only line prosecutors crossed. They hid evidence — forensic copies of phones and devices the defense had a right to see — and told the Court, twice, that everything had been turned over. It hadn't. Furthermore, their case rested on a convicted money launderer with no connection to the company at the center of the charges, and an "expert" falsely described to the jury as a Mexican-trained lawyer. They also played a secretly recorded interview to the jury containing statements Mr. Rovirosa's lawyers could not cross-examine — a violation of his Sixth Amendment right to confront the witnesses against him. They twisted an unrelated comment into what they told the jury was a confession. They held back their core text-message evidence until closing argument, when the defense could no longer question anyone about it. The right to see the evidence against you, the right to confront your accusers, the right to a fair trial — each one was violated.
"The conduct in this case fell well short of what federal prosecutors are expected to uphold. A man was publicly smeared, tried on a theory the evidence did not support, and — even after the Court found Mr. Rovirosa innocent — the government asked that he remain in custody. The record speaks for itself," McConnell added.
Rovirosa, who was scheduled to be sentenced later this month, is instead returning home as an innocent man after enduring abusive treatment and vile smears at the hands of federal prosecutors.
"I came to the United States believing in the American dream. I built a business, raised a family, worked hard, and played by the rules," said Rovirosa. "When these charges came, I never lost faith. Not in this country. Not in its courts. Not in its Constitution. I believed that, if I held onto the truth, an American court would see it. Today, the United States District Court did. I am grateful to the Court. I am grateful to my wife, Tanya, to our children, and to my legal team for never letting go. My faith and God helped me persevere through this ordeal. And I am grateful to the American legal system. It can be pushed, and it can be tested. But when it works, there is no other system like it in the world. Today, it worked. I am going home."
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SOURCE R McConnell Group PLLC
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