Rep. Palacios out on bail

Rep. Raymond D. Palacios, who was arrested Friday for allegedly selling $200 worth of crystal methamphetamine, was released from jail yesterday afternoon after posting bail.

Sources at the Department of Public Safety said that Palacios was released at 2:30pm after his counsel, Edward Arriola Sr., processed his bail.

Superior Court associate judge Perry B. Inos on Monday allowed Palacios to post bail—$3,000 cash and $27,000 unsecured bond—after determining that the 48-year-old lawmaker is not a flight risk. Palacios was also not found eligible for a court-appointed counsel.

According to police reports, members of the Drug Enforcement Task Force and DPS Criminal Investigation Bureau used a confidential source to buy a total of $200 worth of “ice” from Palacios in two transactions on Oct. 19, 2011.

Court records also show that Palacios was among several persons who wrote letters of support to beg for leniency for his brother-in-law, convicted “ice” trafficker Ignacio Aldan Leon Guerrero, during Leon Guerrero’s sentencing in May 2011.

In a letter dated April 20, 2011 and addressed to then Superior Court associate judge Ramona V. Manglona, Palacios promised that he is ready to help “provide good advices” and assist Leon Guerrero “in his journey to help him become a better person.”

“I myself have gone through some life-changing situations and that I am fortunate and thankful enough to be a recipient of good advises [sic] and support and that I have committed and hold true my decision in ensuring that my obligations as a father in a broken relationship is of topmost priority and in which I continue to fulfill,” Palacios said in the letter.

Palacios urged Manglona to be lenient in sentencing Leon Guerrero by ordering him to undergo rehabilitation treatment and strict monitoring instead of a jail sentence.

Manglona, however, sentenced Leon Guerrero to 20 years in prison.

In her written order, Manglona noted that many of Leon Guerrero’s immediate family members have had “ice” related cases in both local and federal courts.

She cited Leon Guerrero’s two sisters, two brothers, two nieces, and his own son, Ignacio Jr., for having had their own “ice” related criminal cases in the Superior Court and U.S. District Court for the NMI.