Ex-CUC board chair’s bid to lower sentence denied

Noting that illness is a part of life, Superior Court Associate Judge David A. Wiseman denied former Commonwealth Utilities Corp. board chair Francisco Q. Guerrero’s motion to reduce his sentence due to his medical condition.

“Defendant failed to make his case that the court should grant him relief on the basis of compassion,” said Wiseman in the order on Monday.

In July 2013, a Superior Court jury acquitted the then-63-year-old Guerrero of two counts of a sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree.

Associate Judge David A. Wiseman, who presided over the trial, found him guilty on 11 charges: three counts of assault and battery, five counts of disturbing the peace, two counts of indecent exposure in the second degree, and sexual abuse of a minor in the fourth degree.

In November 2013, Wiseman sentenced Guerrero to six years in prison, without the possibility of parole. The maximum sentence that could be imposed was seven years and six months imprisonment.

Following the conviction, Guerrero appealed to the CNMI Supreme Court. The high court, however, upheld his conviction.

Last month, Guerrero, through counsel Brien Sers Nicholas, filed a motion to reduce the sentence on the basis of Guerrero’s reputation prior to his conviction and for medical reasons.

In denying the motion, Wiseman said the court is not persuaded by Guerrero’s arguments. He pointed out that a defendant must show illegality or a gross abuse of discretion in order to reduce a sentence, as outlined in Rule 35(b) of the Commonwealth Rules of Civil Procedure.

The judge pointed out that Guerrero’s three-page memorandum of points and authorities do not allege any illegality or gross abuse of discretion.

Therefore, he said, Guerrero has not met his burden of showing the prima facie elements for relief.

Wiseman noted that the maximum sentence he could have imposed was seven and a half years but he found good cause to reduce the sentence based on some mitigating circumstances, such as Guerrero’s former status in the community.

Wiseman said he ultimately sentenced Guerrero to six years, the same sentence recommended by the presentence investigation report.

In sentencing Guerrero, the judge considered Guerrero’s sexual abuse of the victim, the trauma inflicted upon her, the relationship between them, the severity of the offense, Guerrero’s lack of remorse, his character, and other factors.

“The court finds here, as it found then, that defendant’s sentence was appropriate in light of said considerations,” Wiseman said.

Guerrero filed several post-trial motions and appeals but most were denied.

Guerrero was ordered to start serving his sentence on Dec. 1, 2013, at the Department of Corrections. According to the court’s commitment order, Guerrero began sexually molesting the girl in 2010 when she was in 9th grade and continued doing so up to May 2012 on five occasions.