Francisco A. Besosa

United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico district Appointed by George W. Bush (Republican) 17 signed orders read

How Judge Besosa decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

What persuades

In pretrial motions to dismiss that hinge on disputed facts rather than the face of the indictment, he defers the question to trial rather than resolving it on the papers -- for example rejecting a 'machinegun' status argument as a jury question notwithstanding intervening appellate precedent the defense invoked.

“The R&R is correct: To grant the relief requested in the second motion to dismiss would require this Court to accept as true Alicea's rendition of the facts, which the United States disputes.”

On Fourth Amendment vehicle searches, he applies a strict ownership/control-based standing analysis and will deny suppression outright if the defendant cannot show more than casual, informal possession of the vehicle searched.

“Delgado has not established he has a reasonable expectation of privacy in the F-150. He does not own the vehicle; he has not provided a sworn statement from his brother, the owner of the vehicle, that Delgado had permission to use the vehicle, and has not shown a pattern of repeated use of the vehicle.”

Procedural preferences

He enforces his own pretrial deadlines strictly, declining to reach the merits of an untimely-filed suppression motion even on the eve of trial.

“the defendants filed the joint motion to suppress nearly fourteen months after the Court imposed deadline to do so ... Accordingly, the defendants' joint motion to suppress is DENIED as untimely.”

On attorney-fee petitions he scrutinizes billing records line by line, discounting vague or duplicative entries and declining to credit additional attorneys' in-court time when they did not actively participate.

“Time records that are too generic and insufficient as a practical matter to permit a court to answer questions about excessiveness, redundancy, and the like[,] should be discounted or disallowed.”

Cautions

He does not hesitate to dismiss claims with prejudice at the pleading stage where sovereign immunity or the absence of individual liability is clear, even while allowing other claims in the same suit to proceed.

“the ADA and Law 44 causes of action, and the Title VII claims against Oliveras, Garcia, and Martir are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

Santiago-Rodriguez v. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
3:20-cv-01658 · 2021-07-01
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted in part

“the defendants' motion to dismiss is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. ... The ADA and Law 44 causes of action, and the Title VII claims against Oliveras, Garcia, and Martir are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”

Motion to amend complaint (plaintiff) Granted

“the Court GRANTS Santiago's motion to amend the complaint. (Docket No. 9)”

United States v. Alicea-Curras
3:22-cr-00511 · 2025-02-20
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Denied

“the Court ADOPTS the magistrate judge's December 16, 2024 Report and Recommendation. ... Alicea's motion to dismiss the indictment is DENIED. (Docket No. 119.)”

United States v. Figaro-Benjamin, et al.
3:18-cr-00066 · 2019-08-16
Motion to suppress (defendant) Moot / procedural

“the defendants' joint motion to suppress is DENIED as untimely. ... Pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 12(c)(3), 'the Court need not review a motion to suppress that was untimely filed.'”

United States v. Villa-Guillen
3:17-cr-00608 · 2019-07-22
Motion to suppress (defendant) Denied

“The Court ADOPTS the magistrate judge's findings and recommendations. (Docket No. 76.) Accordingly, Villa's motion to suppress is DENIED. (Docket Nos. 28, 34 & 69.)”

United States v. Delgado-Lopez
3:25-cr-00283 · 2026-03-12
Motion to suppress (defendant) Denied

“the Court DENIES defendant Delgado's motion to suppress and DENIES his request for a Franks hearing. (Docket No. 20.)”

Motion for franks hearing (defendant) Denied
United States v. Martinez-Garriga
3:24-cr-00090 · 2025-01-31
Motion in limine (government) Granted

“the United States' motion to exclude evidence suggesting that the USPS failed to prevent the delay of election mail is GRANTED. (Docket No. 121.)”

Ferrao-Rivera v. Puerto Rico Department of Education, et al.
3:24-cv-01079 · 2025-06-18
Motion for reconsideration (defendant) Denied

“the Court DENIES defendants' motion for partial reconsideration. (Docket No. 34.)”

Quiles-Carrasquillo v. DeJoy
3:23-cv-01468 · 2025-01-03
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted in part

“the Court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART the defendant's motion to dismiss ... The defendant's motion to dismiss is DENIED as to the hostile work environment claims and GRANTED as to the disparate treatment and digital face altering causes of action, as well as to claims against the USPS for activities attributable to the APWU.”

Motion for sanctions (plaintiff) Denied

“the Court ... DENIES the parties' cross motions for sanctions (Docket Nos 61 and 73). ... the Court holds that Rule 11 sanctions are unwarranted at this time.”

Motion for sanctions (defendant) Denied

“the Court ... DENIES the parties' cross motions for sanctions (Docket Nos 61 and 73).”

United States v. Reynoso
3:25-mc-00068 · 2025-04-14
Motions to stay (defendant) Denied

“Reynoso's motion to stay pending an appeal is DENIED. (Docket No. 27.)”

Ruiz-Romero v. Hotel Aloft Ponce, et al.
3:22-cv-01526 · 2026-02-04
Motion for attorneys fees (plaintiff) Granted in part

“plaintiff's motion for attorneys' fees (Docket No. 112) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. Plaintiff is awarded a total of $10,650.00 in attorneys' fees.”

Nieto-Vincenty, et al. v. Valledor, et al.
3:12-cv-01585 · 2014-05-30
Motions to strike (defendant) Denied

“defendants' motion to strike (Docket No. 95) is DENIED.”

Summary judgment (defendant) Granted in part

“GRANTS IN PART AND DENIES IN PART Zurqui, Inc. and the Valledor defendants' motion for summary judgment (Docket No. 80); all claims brought by plaintiff Alicia Vincenty-Medina against all defendants are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”

Summary judgment (defendant) Granted

“the Valledor matrimony's ... motion[] for summary judgment [is GRANTED] (Docket Nos. 75 & 81); ... all claims against Jose Valledor, Concepcion Valledor, and their conjugal partnership are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”

Summary judgment (defendant) Granted

“the Court GRANTS ... PDMYC's motion[] for summary judgment (Docket Nos. 75 & 81); all claims against PDMYC are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”

United States v. Hernandez-Gamboa, et al.
3:21-cr-00323 · 2023-08-14
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Denied

“the defendants' motion to dismiss is DENIED. (Docket No. 26.)”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

The sampled caseload is weighted toward civil-rights and employment-discrimination suits against Commonwealth agencies, admiralty and maritime-drug-trafficking prosecutions, and firearms and immigration-related criminal matters. It also includes Social Security appeals, many transferred to a magistrate judge with the parties' consent. Filings through 2026 are consistent with an actively sitting senior judge.

Put Judge Besosa's record to work

Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Besosa actually rules, not a generic AI guess.

Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Besosa's own signed orders and cites them.