Actor's in-law gets 15 years in Miami case

MIAMI, May 27 (UPI) -- A Miami man prosecutors call "a career criminal" -- the brother-in-law of actor Andy Garcia -- must spend 15 years in prison, a judge says.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jacqueline Hogan Scola Tuesday sentenced Ramon Puentes Jr. to the long prison term after he was accused of engaging in further criminal activity while waiting to serve a reduced sentence he received for his role in stealing millions of gallons of jet fuel, The Miami Herald reported.

Puentes had been convicted along with scores of others in the so-called Fuel Farm Case, a massive scheme to siphon jet fuel from the Miami Airport's fuel depot. He received an 18-month sentence in return for testifying against others, but only condition that he stayed clean, the newspaper said.

Scola, however, rescinded the deal when she learned Puentes had been indicted in an alleged mortgage equity loan scam, prompting prosecutor Christine Zahralban to say "Mr. Puentes is a career criminal and con man who has consistently exhibited a total disregard for the law," the Herald said.

Garcia, whose wife Marivi is the sister of Puentes' wife, urged leniency for his brother-in-law in a letter to Scola.