A Miami professor, who moved in high circles in Panama and presented himself as a " consultant " to the government of  Mireya Moscoso (1999-2004) and who in 2017 advocated a bail bond in favor of then detained former president Ricardo Martinelli (2009-2014), has pleaded guilty in a New York court to laundering more than  $2.5 million.

Bruce Bagley, who was a  professor of international studies at the University of Miami. On Monday, June 1, presented his guilty plea in a federal court in Manhattan, in which he admits two charges of laundering and having operated a bribery and corruption scheme from Venezuela, between November 2016 and December 2018.

73-year-old Bagley, a resident of Coral Gables, Florida where Martinelli has a mansion, co-edited the book, Drug Trafficking, Organized Crime, and Violence in the Americas Today, published in 2005. He now faces  a potentially long prison term

When he wrote to a Miami judge backing Martinelli’s [failed} bail plea, Bagley  Said he had "doubts that an objective and balanced judgment is possible in Panama."  due to the polarization between the then president of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela and Martinelli.

The letter he said, “presents my skepticism towards the Panamanian legal system at this time and especially in this case." [Martinelli was acquitted and the ruling is under appeal]

"Bagley went from writing the book on crime, to committing crimes," US Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a statement released Monday.

The sentence will be handed down on October 1. Bagley faces up 20 years behind bars.