Pair Extradited to Puerto Rico Over Sextortion Ring

Patricia Joanna Almonte-Frías and Rineldys Feliciano Díaz-Cuevas, both Dominican Republic nationals, have been brought to Puerto Rico to stand trial on federal charges related to an international sextortion operation, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Puerto Rico announced in early October.

The pair was arrested in the Dominican Republic on August 19 at the request of U.S. authorities and transported to Puerto Rico on September 30. They appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Marcos E. López on October 1.

According to federal prosecutors, the defendants orchestrated the scheme from Dominican territory using social media platforms including Facebook and WhatsApp to locate and exploit victims in Puerto Rico. Almonte-Frías posed in photographs to persuade targets into sharing explicit material, which conspirators then secretly captured. Díaz-Cuevas and others subsequently issued extortion demands, threatening to send the recordings to family members and friends unless money was transferred.

In certain cases, the defendants combined victims' explicit images with photographs of children in doctored collages, falsely implying that victims had engaged in child sexual abuse. This tactic intensified the psychological pressure on targets.

Even when victims surrendered funds, sometimes depleting their savings entirely, the defendants carried through on their threats anyway, distributing the material across victims' social networks, court documents show.

Both face charges of conspiracy to commit cyberstalking and transmit interstate threats under federal law. Conviction carries a maximum prison term of five years each. The Justice Department has not released figures on the total money extracted or how many victims were identified.

The FBI's San Juan office led the investigation with support from the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs, the FBI's legal attaché in Santo Domingo, the U.S. Marshals Service and Dominican law enforcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julián Radzinschi is prosecuting the case.

Acting U.S. Attorney Héctor Ramírez-Carbó stated the defendants "ran a calculated scheme that preyed on trust, fear, and vulnerability, leaving lasting harm in its wake." Carlos R. Goris, special agent in charge of the FBI's San Juan office, cautioned that online extortion inflicts severe financial and emotional damage, urging those targeted to contact law enforcement.