Puerto Rico judge issues warrants for cellphones

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A Puerto Rico judge issued search warrants for the cellphones of government officials involved in a crude online chat whose leak has set off a political crisis that threatens to bring down the U.S. territory’s governor.

One of the search warrants said that government officials used the chat to transmit official and confidential information to private citizens in potential violation of ethics laws.

Kelvin Carrasco, a spokesman for the island’s Justice Department, said Tuesday that the warrants were approved overnight and issued to those who had yet to turn over their phones. He did not identify the officials and would not comment further.

The possibility that some of the 12 men in the chat, including former and current government officials, could face legal trouble deepened the crisis around Gov. Ricardo Rossello.

One of the men who was part of the chat, Rossello confidant and chief of staff Ricardo Llerandi, announced his resignation Tuesday, saying he and his family have received threats.

“The last few days have been extremely difficult for everyone,” he said. “At this historic crossroads, I need to put my family above everything.”

Llerandi joins more than a dozen officials who have resigned since the chat was leaked, including former Secretary of State Luis Rivera Marin, Rossello spokeswoman Dennise Perez, ex-president of the Economic Development Bank Gerardo Portela and former chief financial officer Christian Sobrino, who also held five other positions.

For the past week and a half, protesters have taken to the streets in Puerto Rico, demanding the governor step downin a furor set off by the release of an 889-page transcript showing Rossello participating in an obscenity-laden chat with top advisers and at least one lobbyist.