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A High Profile Case In Puerto Rico Is About To Go Out With A Whimper And An Injustice To Julia Keleher
If ever there should have been a trial to demonstrate the ugly side of prosecutorial discretion, it was the case of Julia Keleher, the former Secretary of Education for Puerto Rico. Trials, no matter their outcome, reveal as much about our justice system as they do about the truth. At times, we get more of the former and less of the latter.
Keleher made her initial court appearance in Puerto Rico federal court on July 17, 2019, accused of conspiracy and wire fraud. The entire island territory was already convinced of her guilt and a trial was meant to be nothing but a formality of a known outcome.
That morning, Keleher left Washington DC accompanied by her 72-year-old father. Entering the airport, a photographer snapped her photo and sent it to an eager mob of press who announced that Keleher was on her way and would soon land in Puerto Rico.
A protest erupted as Keleher made her way out of Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport but it was nothing compared to what awaited her at the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. It was not unexpected. Security personnel pushed back a crowd that punched, screamed and spat at Keleher as she pushed her way into the front of the courthouse screening area. Stunned from the experience, Keleher tried to compose herself once inside the building, but the press pool and photographers had jumped the security checkpoint and followed her through the courthouse door where one reporter yelled, “Why did you steal money from the children!”
Keleher’s attorney Maria Dominguez told Judge Pedro A. Delgado-Hernandez that in her 34 years of practice in federal court that the scene she witnessed in front of the courthouse was unprecedented. For Keleher’s safety she was allowed to leave out a back door to the courthouse. Immediately, there were claims Keleher was getting special treatment.
Keleher was appointed to the Puerto Rico Department of Education in January 2017. From 2017 until her resignation in April 2019, Keleher led wide-scale education reform efforts in Puerto Rico and enacted a number of controversial decisions. These included adopting charter schools and providing private school vouchers in an effort to give parents more options in what was an undeniably failing public school system. After the catastrophic 2017 storm season when Hurricanes Irma and Maria wrecked homes and destroyed the islands’ archaic electrical grid, Keleher saw the opportunity to implement a plan to resurrect the school system. Puerto Rican lawmakers, siding with Keleher’s recommendations, approved a sweeping bill to reshape its education system through decentralizing the Education Department and allocated more funds to private schools. Keleher became a lightning rod of public criticism for the changes.
Keleher resigned as word of backdoor dealings started to dominate the press. She was charged with numerous wire fraud crimes in connection with an alleged conspiracy with at least six other former government officials to steer $15 million in government contracts to politically connected consulting firms. What was strange was that there was no allegation of a bribe or any real benefit to Keleher … she just approved one of the hundreds of contracts she regularly signed. With no money or payoff, there can’t be a crime .. that’s a decision by the Supreme Court (see Bridgegate decision).
Regardless, the Assistant US Attorneys held a press conference following Keleher’s initial indictment and stated that “individuals … involved in a public corruption campaign and profited at the expense of Puerto Rico’s children.” The narrative that Keleher had a hand in harming children had been set. The Office of Inspector General Special Agent in charge promised to “aggressively pursue those who seek to enrich themselves at the expense of our nation’s students.” Soon after that press conference, the judge issued a gag order prohibiting defense and prosecutors from making any further statements about the case until trial. Keleher’s side of the story was sealed until she went to trial.
Keleher’s 2019 indictment was met with unbridled joy as the citizens of Puerto Rico had been calling for public officials to be held accountable. PR’s Governor Ricardo Rosselló resigned in July 2019 amid claims of corruption which were exposed after the US territory’s disastrous attempts to recover from the hurricanes. Rosselló was never indicted but someone needed to be held accountable and Keleher fit the bill.
