NEWARK, N.J. (1010 WINS/AP) — The man in custody that is suspected of shooting former Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz in the Dominican Republic was indicted Thursday on drugs and weapons charges unrelated to the shooting.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark announced that Rolfi Ferreira-Cruz, 25 was indicted in New Jersey on cocaine and heroin possession charges, a charge of conspiracy to distribute drugs and firearms possession.
Ferreira-Cruz, 25, who was arrested last week, is among at least 11 people that have been arrested in the shooting so far.
Dominican authorities say Ferreyra has confessed to the shooting and New Jersey prosecutors said the man they were looking for was the suspected shooter.
Ferreira-Cruz also faces state charges in New Jersey in connection with two armed robberies in 2017.
According to a police affidavit, Luis Rivas-Clase who is known as "The Surgeon" in the Dominican Republic conspired with another man to shoot their victim in the back.
Ortiz, 43, was shot in the back at a bar in the Dominican Republic on June 9 by a gunman who mistook him for the real target, Dominican officials said Wednesday.
Officials said the attempted murder was ordered from the United States by Victor Hugo Gómez, an associate of Mexico's Gulf Cartel.
Dominican officials said Gómez hired a gang of killers to eliminate his cousin, whom Gómez suspected of turning him in to Dominican drug investigators in 2011.
The cousin, Sixto David Fernández, was seated with Ortiz when a gunman approached and fired at Ortiz, the officials said.
The former baseball star is in Boston recovering from surgery.