Drug kingpin targeted David Ortiz in 2019 shooting, private investigators find

BOSTON — A Dominican drug trafficker who was jealous of David Ortiz and felt disrespected by him had him shot at a Dominican nightclub in 2019, according to the private investigators the former Red Sox slugger hired to look into the attack that nearly killed him.

The findings by former Boston police commissioner Edward Davis contradict the theory of the crime developed by Dominican prosecutors.

Davis told The Boston Globe that he identified drug-trafficker César Peralta as having orchestrated the shooting by placing a bounty on Ortiz and sanctioning the hit squad that tried to kill him. Dominican authorities did not cooperate with the private investigation.

Peralta is being held without bail in Puerto Rico on unrelated charges of conspiracy to import cocaine and heroin. The U.S. Treasury designated Peralta a drug kingpin in 2019, and he was extradited to the U.S. territory in December.

Ortiz's spokesperson, Joe Baerlein, told the Globe that Davis' findings were withheld for Ortiz's safety until Peralta was in U.S. custody.

Peralta has not been charged in relation to Ortiz's shooting. Peralta's lawyer, Joaquin Perez, said his client had nothing to do with the attempt on Ortiz's life.

«As bad as César Peralta is, it's not even close to being in the ballpark to say he had something to do with this,» Perez said.

Perez described Ortiz and Peralta as «close friends.» Ortiz told the Globe he knew Peralta only casually and that he was «sad, confused, angry, all kinds of emotions» when he received the news from Davis and Ric Prado, a former high-ranking CIA official who participated in the inquiry.

Dominican authorities have said the target was meant to be Sixto David Fernandez, who was sharing a table with Ortiz when he was