GUILTY!

After deliberating for less than six hours, federal jurors yesterday pronounced Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez, former Commerce Secretary James A. Santos, and Joaquina V. Santos guilty of all charges relating to a scheme to defraud the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. through needless purchases of a de-scaling chemical called Rydlyme.

This makes Villagomez the highest ever CNMI offcial to be convicted in a criminal case. He is the brother of Joaquina Santos, who is married to James Santos.

The jurors found Villagomez and James Santos guilty of conspiracy to defraud and to commit offenses against the U.S., wire fraud, theft concerning a program receiving federal funds, and bribery concerning a program receiving federal funds.

Joaquina Santos was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud and to commit offenses against the U.S., wire fraud, aiding and abetting to commit theft concerning a program receiving federal funds, and bribery concerning a program receiving federal funds.

The 12 jurors reached the unanimous verdict after deliberating for only a few hours. They began deliberations around 9:30am; the verdict was read at 3:30pm. Including the one-day jury selection, the trial lasted just 20 days.

U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Alex R. Munson set the sentencing for July 28, 2009. After the sentencing, the defendants will have 10 days to file a notice of appeal. It was not immediately learned if Villagomez and the Santoses will appeal.

The maximum penalty for wire fraud is 20 years in prison, while the other counts range from five to 10 years.

Munson allowed the defendants to remain free pending their sentencing.

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial had just two things to say after learning of the verdict:

“First, I want to express my sympathy to the family of the Lt. Governor. This is a terrible ordeal for any family to have to suffer, and I regret the great distress this unfortunate development has caused not only for the family, but for our entire local community as well.

“Second, as I have repeatedly said in the past, I respect the law and the judicial process. I respect our system of justice.”

Taotao Tano CNMI Inc. president Greg Cruz said his earlier call for Villagomez to step down from office would have been the honorable thing to do “for we knew that the evidence in this federal indictment outweighed the defense.”

“There is a lesson to be learned by all these and that is we the people of the Commonwealth can no longer remain silent on the corrupt and self-interest agenda that goes on in our homeland. Indeed this is a sad day for some, but a victory to the suffering, oppressed, and depressed consumers of [the] Commonwealth,” said Cruz.

The fast verdict surprised even the prosecutor and caught the local media off-guard as no reporter was present when the verdict was read.

Villagomez’s lead counsel, attorney David J. Lujan, was not in the courtroom as he reportedly flew to Guam, along with co-counsel, Leilani Lujan.

Tinian attorney Joey San Nicolas, co-counsel for Villagomez, was present when the verdict was announced. Ramon Quichocho and Victorino Torres, counsels for Joaquina Santos and James Santos, were also in the courtroom.

Saipan Tribune tried but failed to get comments from the defense lawyers.

Some family members, relatives, and friends of the defendants who were in the courtroom reportedly cried when the verdict was read.

The defendants were accused of conspiring to bilk the CNMI government out of thousands of dollars through business deals involving needless purchases of Rydlyme for CUC. The Santoses own ISLAS Micronesia Sales and Blue Pacific, which both supplied CUC with Rydlyme.

Villagomez allegedly accepted a $15,000 check from the Santos couple in connection with CUC’s purchase of Rydlyme.

Former CUC executive director Anthony Guerrero, who was also charged with wire fraud, conspiracy, and theft of federal funds, signed a plea agreement with the U.S. government and entered a guilty plea. As one of the key witnesses, Guerrero was the last person to take the witness stand.

In a news briefing after the verdict, Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric O’Malley said they are very satisfied with the result.

“We think that justice was served. The community stepped up and I think, as I said in my closing argument, decided that it was time…that enough was enough,” O’Malley said.

The prosecutor said it certainly took a lot of courage to do that, both on behalf of the U.S. government’s witnesses as well as the jurors.

“These are powerful people and it’s no easy thing to stand up and stay strong,” he said.

O’Malley admitted being surprised at the fast verdict.

“But it seems to me that the jurors, when they were asked if this, in fact, was their verdict, they all seemed very confident and so I think the strength of the testimony, especially the employees of CUC, gave the jurors the courage [to come out with the guilty verdict],” O’Malley said.

O’Malley said the verdict hopefully means that people in the CNMI shouldn’t be afraid to come forward because someone will listen to them if they think that someone is doing something wrong.

“And if there’s something there, we are going to look into it,” O’Malley promised.

He praised the Office of the Public Auditor because “it is where the case started.”

“They are cooperating and working with us and helping us with the investigation all along. And if people have concerns, we will listen,” he said.

U.S. Attorney Leonardo Rapadas said that yesterday was the culmination of a very stressful several weeks for their office. He said the guilty verdict is a very important case not only for the U.S. Attorney District, but for the United States as well.

“Government corruption has always been high on the priority list for the Department of Justice. And it is sad to see that in small areas like CNMI we have government corruption that has reached into the highest levels,” he said.

Rapadas said the primary agency that worked on the case was the FBI, with the help of OPA and some assistance from the Office of the Attorney General and Internal Revenue Service.