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Marset gave up his device passwords and now wants their contents excluded as evidence
🇧🇴 Bolivia /Crime & Justice

Marset gave up his device passwords and now wants their contents excluded as evidence

From El Deber · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Documents & data In the courts
  • Lawyers for Uruguayan alleged drug trafficker Sebastián Marset asked a US court to exclude data taken from his phones, tablet and computer from his case.
  • The defense says DEA agents obtained the passwords under pressure before informing Marset of his rights, allegedly offering to reduce his prison term.
  • The filing also says a DEA agent contacted Marset through WhatsApp in March 2025 about a pending US criminal investigation.

Sebastián Marset’s lawyers are trying to keep prosecutors from using the contents of his electronic devices, arguing that DEA agents pressured him into surrendering the passwords.

The defense submitted the request to the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Aug. 24. According to the filing, agents showed Marset a table of federal sentencing guidelines before informing him of his rights. They allegedly told him that providing the passwords to his phones would reduce his place on the table by “four points,” meaning less prison time.

four points

— DEA agents, according to Marset’s lawyersThe alleged offer to reduce Marset’s prison term in exchange for device passwords.

The same approach allegedly secured the password to his computer, according to lawyers Sandi S. Rhee, Robert Feitel and Joseph King. The information taken from the devices later supported interrogations, and the defense is seeking to suppress the contents of the phones, tablet and computer, along with other evidence.

for the safety of your children and your loved ones around you

— DEA agent, according to the defense filingThe alleged WhatsApp message about resolving Marset’s US criminal case.

The filing also describes earlier contact between Marset and a DEA agent. The agent allegedly wrote to him on WhatsApp on March 27, 2025, nearly a year before Marset’s capture in Bolivia. The agent warned that Marset faced a US criminal investigation but said the United States was offering a chance to resolve his problems “for the safety of your children and your loved ones around you.”

Marset allegedly replied that he had “never sent a gram of cocaine to the United States” and told the agent to spend time investigating other people. The agent then ended the exchange, advising Marset to make contact if he changed his mind.

never sent a gram of cocaine to the United States

— Sebastián Marset, according to the defense filingMarset’s reported response to the DEA agent.
About this summary

Originally published by El Deber in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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