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Lieto acquitted of burglary, theft of copper wires
George Lieto, who was accused with another man of breaking into a store’s generator room in Kagman and stealing over $1,600 in copper wires, was found not guilty of these charges yesterday.
In the reading of the verdict at the Superior Court yesterday afternoon, a jury found Lieto not guilty of burglary and not guilty of theft.
Lieto’s co-defendant, Terwik A. Ludwig, had pleaded guilty last February and was slapped with a three-year prison term.
Lieto’s lawyer, Matthew Holley, said after the verdict was read that they were relieved and happy that the trial was over. He said he appreciated the jury’s decision.
Meanwhile, chief prosecutor Leonardo Rapadas of Attorney General’s Office separately said they trusted the verdict and the jury’s time in deliberating over the evidence.
Lieto’s jury trial began on Monday in the Superior Court. On Monday, the prosecution had called to the witness stand three witnesses—patrol officer David Rabauliman, the manager of New Kagman Market, and the owner of a surveillance camera.
Last November, Lieto and Ludwig were separately arrested. According to a report from police detective Catherine B. Pangelinan last year, patrol officer David Rabauliman was conducting routine patrol along Cha Cha Road in Kagman last Oct. 26 at 9:47am when he spotted Lieto and Ludwig loading copper wires into a car’s trunk next to the generator room of New Kagman Market.
