Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Benedetto mentioned this in the 10-page plea agreement signed by Reyes who pleaded guilty yesterday.
“In late August of 1996, then-[DPS] Commissioner…Rebecca M. Warfield signed a letter terminating the defendant’s employment with DPS. The defendant never received the letter, and the defendant was not, in fact, terminated but remained employed with DPS,” the plea agreement stated.
Reyes will provide “substantial assistance” in the investigation and prosecution of another person, the plea agreement stated.
In 2001, Reyes was allowed to resign instead of being terminated from a prior position with the Commonwealth Ports Authority after he tested positive for controlled substances.
In Feb. 2006, Reyes was required to take a pre-employment drug test as a condition of his employment as a civilian employee of DPS, assigned as the governor’s bodyguard and chauffer.
DPS also provided a firearm to Reyes after he underwent firearms handling and safety training.
Sometime between February and late Aug. 2006, Reyes was notified by a colleague from the Office of the Personnel Management that the results of his pre-employment drug test were “confusing,” but no repeat drug test was ever scheduled or required from him.
In later Oct. 2008, Reyes was involved in a heated argument with a DPS employee.
“This resulted in his firearm being confiscated at the direction of Deputy Commissioner Aniceto Ogumoro that same day but [DPS] returned the firearm later on the same day,” the plea agreement stated.
Two weeks later, a police sergeant confiscated Reyes’s firearm at the instruction of DPS Commissioner Santiago Tudela and Esther S. Fleming, the governor’s special assistant for administration.
Reyes then contacted Fitial and informed the governor that DPS confiscated his firearm, the plea agreement stated.
It added that Reyes also had a conversation with Fleming who advised him that someone notified her that DPS suspected that he was using marijuana.
“[Fleming] told [Reyes] that [it] was the reason his firearm was taken from him,” the plea agreement stated.
“[Reyes] told Ms. Fleming that this action of confiscating the firearm was the result of the heated argument that had occurred several weeks previous of which the governor was aware because defendant himself informed the governor two days after the argument incident,” the plea agreement added.
In a subsequent conversation with Fleming, Reyes learned that she already talked with the governor, and the confiscation of Reyes’s firearm was a result of “miscommunication,” the plea agreement stated.
