MIAMI (AP) — Federal prosecutors are expanding their investigation into a bribery scheme involving two former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration supervisors, turning their attention to two Miami defense attorneys suspected of profiting from repeated leaks of confidential DEA information.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan filed court papers Monday accusing the lawyers of bankrolling the scheme and asking a judge to allow prosecutors to review nearly 1,000 emails, text messages and recordings of protected phone calls between the attorneys and Manny Recio, a former DEA agent who later worked for the attorneys as a private investigator.
Attorneys’ communications with their clients and members of their investigative team are confidential and typically off limits from law enforcement, unless they are being used to carry out criminal activity. But federal prosecutors took the unusual step this week of asking a judge to invoke the “crime fraud exception” to this privilege, calling the communications between Recio and attorneys David Macey and Luis Guerra “integral to the bribery scheme.”
READ MORE: Professional informant takes center stage in bribery trial of veteran DEA agents
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The motion marked an about-face for prosecutors, who for years went out of their way to avoid naming the lawyers as unindicted co-conspirators and beneficiaries of the conspiracy. Neither Macey nor Guerra has been charged, but prosecutors referred to them as “crooked attorneys” who “paid handsomely for DEA secrets” during a two-week trial that ended in November with a jury finding Recio and former DEA agent John Costanzo Jr. guilty of bribery and honest-services wire fraud.
“We’re here scheming about how we’re going to make money, money, money,” Guerra said in one intercepted conversation with Costanzo.
Macey and Guerra have not responded to repeated requests for comment. Both attorneys are longstanding members of what is known in Miami as the “white powder bar,” a fiercely competitive circle of high-priced defense attorneys who scramble to sign up kingpin clients, negotiate surrender deals and convert them into government cooperators.
In such a lucrative field, advance notice of an indictment or ongoing investigations can be the key to successfully recruiting a new client. But paying public officials for inside information is illegal.
Prosecutors said in the trial that after Recio retired he repeatedly asked Costanzo to run names in a confidential DEA database that tracks federal investigations of interest to his new employers. The two also discussed the timing of the arrest of the top drug trafficker in the Dominican Republic and the the exact date in 2019 when the grand jury was to indict businessman Alex Saab, a top criminal target in Venezuela and suspected bag man for the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro.
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“Throughout the bribery scheme, Costanzo repeatedly leaked information to Recio to benefit him and the attorneys he worked with,” prosecutors wrote in a 28-page memo that quotes from wiretapped communications between Recio and Costanzo presented during trial. “Costanzo was leaking information so that Macey and Guerra could bring in more clients, and part of the scheme required Recio to convey the inside information to Macey and Guerra.”
In exchange, the attorneys lavished the two veteran lawmen with nearly $100,000 in cash and gifts, federal prosecutors said.
Bribes included a $50,000 down payment for Costanzo to purchase a Miami-area townhouse that was wired via middlemen including Costanzo’s father, himself a retired and decorated DEA agent who prosecutors said lied to the FBI.
“It’s about greed and corruption,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Deininger said in her closing argument at trial. “What they were doing was wrong and they knew it.”
Macey last appeared in federal court in December for the sentencing of a client who pleaded guilty to distributing more than $16 million worth of adulterated prescription drugs. Guerra appears to have rebranded his practice to focus on personal injury cases, saying in a social media post, “With Guerra, it rains money!”
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VITALS: The Miami Heat (32-29) and Brooklyn Nets (15-45) meet for the second of three regular season matchups. Earlier this season, Miami recorded a, 106-95, win in Brooklyn on December 18 and has now won four of the last five overall against the Nets.
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It also marks the first of consecutive games against Brooklyn with the teams facing each other again on Thursday. The Heat are 83-61 all-time versus the Nets during the regular season, including 44-26 in home games and 39-35 in road games.
PROJECTED STARTERS
HEAT
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G Davion Mitchell
G Tyler Herro
C Bam Adebayo
F Pelle Larsson
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F Andrew Wiggins
NETS
G Nolan Traore
G Terance Mann
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C Nic Claxton
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F Michael Porter Jr.
F Noah Clowney
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INJURY REPORT
HEAT
Davion Mitchell: Questionable – Shoulder
Norman Powell: Out – Groin
Nikola Jovic: Out – Back
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Trevor Keels: Available – G League
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Jahmir Young: Available – G League
Vlad Goldin: Available – G League
Terry Rozier: Out – Not with team
NETS
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Nic Claxton: Probable – Thumb
Egor Demin: Out – Foot
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QUOTABLE
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra: “Regardless of the scheme is, I always go back to that, it’s just about committing to doing hard things. We were really moving in the zone, taking away airspace and scrambling to challenge shots at the rim. In a lot of these losses in the last month we’ve just been giving up shots at the rim and threes.”
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For more Miami Heat information and conversation, check out Off The Floor.
Alexander Toledo is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI and producer/co-host of the Five on the Floor podcast, covering the Heat and NBA. He can be reached at Twitter: @tropicalblanket
ORLANDO, Fla. — Lionel Messi scored twice in a four-goal second half, defender Telasco Segovia added a goal and two assists and defending champion Inter Miami CF rallied to beat Orlando City SC 4-2 on Sunday night, winning for the first time at Inter&Co Stadium.
Messi took a pass from Segovia and scored in the 57th minute to tie it 2-2, and Segovia scored unassisted in the 85th for the lead. Messi put the finishing touch on the victory when he scored off a free kick in the 90th.
“The victory belongs exclusively to the players,” Miami coach Javier Mascherano said after the game. “In the second half, they were a championship team. There were no tactics, nothing like that. There was heart, courage, possession, resilience, commitment. I think the team came out because they were champions last year.
“In the end, the players showed it. This victory is theirs.”
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Messi’s first two goals of the season give him 52 in his first 55 regular-season MLS matches — 51 of them in his past 49 appearances. It also brought the reigning MLS MVP to 898 career goals scored, including 672 for Barcelona and 115 for Argentina.
“He’s the best player to ever play this sport. He’s a leader, and as a leader, he inspires others, but he also often needs to be inspired himself,” Mascherano said of Messi. “When he was driving forward, he had more attacking options, and with so many opportunities, he clearly has the ability to create chances like no one else, and that’s what allowed us to turn the game around.”
Marco Pašalić took a pass from Iván Angulo and scored in the 18th minute to give Orlando City a 1-0 lead. Pašalić has scored in four straight matches against Inter Miami.
Inter Miami players celebrate after scoring a goal against Orlando City in MLS.
Defender Griffin Dorsey set up Martín Ojeda for a goal six minutes later for a 2-0 advantage that stood through halftime.
Inter Miami cut it to 2-1 four minutes into the second half on Mateo Silvetti’s first career goal. Defenders Segovia and Facundo Mura had assists as the 20-year-old forward found the net in his fifth career appearance.
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Segovia had eight goals and six assists as a rookie last season, while Mura collected his first assist in his first season.
Dayne St. Clair, the reigning goalkeeper of the year, turned away three shots — all in the second half of his second start with Inter Miami, but let in a soft goal for Orlando’s first.
Maxime Crépeau had four saves in his second start for Orlando City.
Teenager Colin Guske, 19, will miss Orlando City’s next match after the rookie picked up two yellow cards in his first start — the second one led to his exit in the 88th minute.
Inter Miami, which had never won in its previous nine trips to Orlando, was coming off a 3-0 road loss to LAFC.
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Orlando City swept Inter Miami during the regular season last year and leads the all-time series 8-7-4.
Inter Miami plays D.C. United on Saturday at Audi Field. Orlando City is also on the road with a match against New York City FC.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this recap.
Rain floods Miami Beach streets, cut short Miami Heat Family Festival
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Much-needed rain fell across South Florida on Sunday, but the downpour quickly led to flooding and traffic headaches.
“The drainage systems aren’t the best but in ten minutes it will be gone,” one person said.
The rain lasted longer than 10 minutes, flooding several spots along Collins Avenue in Miami Beach.
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In one neighborhood, at least a foot of water blocked the entrance. Drivers who attempted to pass through sent waves crashing onto nearby sidewalks.
The heavy rain also snarled traffic on parts of Interstate 95 and on the bridges to and from Miami Beach, slowing drivers trying to get around the area.
“It’s Miami for you. What do they call it, a sun shower?” one driver said.
The weather disrupted Sunday plans for many. The 26th annual Miami Heat Family Festival was cut short after strong winds swept through Dan Paul Plaza, knocking over several tents.
There is no word yet on how or when the Miami Heat plan to make up the family festival.
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Brett Knese
Brett Knese joined the Local 10 News team as a general assignment reporter in March 2025.
