Two Suspects in Puerto Rico Hotel Fire Moved to Prison Near Miami

U.S. marshals confirmed Friday that two suspects charged with setting the New Year’s Eve fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, have been transferred to a federal prison near Miami.

Hector Escudero Aponte, charged with setting the blaze that killed 96 people, and Armando Jimenez Rivera, accused of providing the fuel, were transferred on Jan. 23 to the Metropolitan Correctional Center south of Miami.

Herman Wirshing, the U.S. marshal in Puerto Rico, said the two were sent to Florida “for security reasons,” but he knew of no threats against their lives. He said there frequently is not enough space in Puerto Rican jails for federal inmates awaiting trial.

Reprisals Feared

Jim Simmons, detention supervisor at the U.S. Marshals Service office in Miami, said the transfer may have been prompted by fear of reprisals from the victims’ families.

A jail spokesman, Angel Montalvo, said: “I’m not at liberty to discuss too many details as far as security measures to protect any inmate. However, they’re under more supervision by staff than the general (prison) population.”

A third suspect, bartender Jose Francisco Rivera Lopez, was arrested Thursday in San Juan. U.S. Magistrate Justo Arenas on Friday refused bail for Rivera Lopez, who was charged in a federal indictment with arson and instigating the commission of arson.