Drug lord connected to David Ortiz shooting pleads guilty to drug charges
Cesar Peralta, the drug kingpin who allegedly tried to have David Ortiz murdered in 2019, pled guilty to drug charges last week in Puerto Rico.
The Boston Red Sox legend was shot in the back on the patio of a Santo Domingo bar in June 2019 and was lucky to survive. He underwent surgery in the Dominican before the Sox sent a plane to bring him to Boston, a decision Ortiz says saved his life. He required further surgeries and a lengthy hospitalization at Mass General Hospital.
Ortiz hired Ed Davis to investigate the attempt on his life. In March, the former Boston Police Commissioner gave an interview in which he announced, “Peralta said he had David shot.” According to Davis, Peralta not only placed a bounty on the now-Hall of Famer but also sanctioned a hit squad.
Drug kingpin who allegedly tried to have Red Sox legend David Ortiz killed in 2019 pleads guilty to drug charges
Once on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, Peralta, known as El Abusador (The Abuser), faces ten years to life in the ongoing trial and also faces drug trafficking charges in Florida. He was charged with conspiracy to import and distribute heroin and cocaine to the United States back in November 2018. He fled to Colombia from the Dominican Republic in August 2019, less than two months after the attempt on Ortiz’s life. He was arrested in Cartagena in December 2019 and extradited to the U.S. almost eleven months ago. The FBI and Treasury department have also accused him of running money-laundering and sex-trafficking operations through of his various businesses in the DR.
Peralta was never charged in connection to the attack on Ortiz. Earlier this year, CBS News reported that 13 people had been charged and were awaiting trial in the DR in relation to the attack on Ortiz.
