He began his acting career in the Dominican Republic television production Grandes Series Dominicanas in which he took the leading parts of the mini-series En La Olla and Trio en Alta Mar, both by Dominican director/producer Alfonso Rodríguez.
He was born prematurely when his mother came to visit relatives in New York, and his family then moved him back to Santiago, Dominican Republic.
After college, he decided to act full-time and moved to New York City where he worked on the production of The Bookie's Lament (2000) with Gabriel Macht, but later returned to the Dominican Republic, where he starred in the mini-series Asalto en la Lincoln as well as in the sitcoms Ciudad Nueva and Los Electrolocos, in which he took the lead.
[1] After returning to the United States, he has appeared in the feature films Dreaming of Julia (2003) with Harvey Keitel and Gael García Bernal, in The Lost City (2005) with Andy García, Dustin Hoffman, and Bill Murray, in The Wrath of Cain (2010) with Ving Rhames and Robert Patrick as well as doing voice work in Rango (2011) alongside Johnny Depp amongst others.
On television, he has appeared in single episodes of hit television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The Shield, Brothers & Sisters, My Name Is Earl, and The Good Guys as well as 17 episodes of Weeds as Mexican drug cartel criminal Ignacio, his best-known role.