NMI gov’t paid $121,219 attorneys’ fees for Torres, 12 witnesses in JGO hearings

So far, the CNMI government has paid a total of $121,219 in attorneys’ fees to five of six lawyers/law firms, including a Washington, D.C.-based law firm, that served as counsel for Gov. Ralph DLG Torres and 12 other government witnesses who were called to testify in an investigation into Torres’ expenditures of public funds and travels.

According to a record from the Department of Finance obtained by Saipan Tribune yesterday, the lawyers/law firms that got paid are the Garber Group law firm, Anthony Aguon, Viola Alepuyo, and the law firms of Matthew T. Gregory, and Banes, Horey, and Berman.

Janet H. King, who was the counsel for Police Sgt. Joey R. Cruz, Torres’ chief of security, has yet to be paid. Finance list did not indicate her attorney’s fee.

The amounts only reflect the totals as of last Monday and could still go up as the issue proceeds at the Senate during the impeachment trial.

The Office of the Attorney General approved the witnesses’ hiring of private lawyers for the hearings, which was held by the House of Judiciary and Governmental Operations Committee.

The record shows that the D.C.-based Garber Group law firm received a total of $58,626 for representing Torres.

The law firm of Banes, Horey, and Berman received a total of $9,191 for representing Torres.

Aguon got a total of $28,490 for representing Department of Public Safety Commissioner Robert Guerrero, Bureau of Motor Vehicles director Juana Leon Guerrero, DPS Boating Safety commander Kevin Aldan, Police Maj. Bernard Santos, Police Sgt. Adrian Mendiola, Police Lt. Emery Kaipat, and police officers Jomalyn S. Gelacio, Jhaneeka Atalig, and Flora Aguon.

Alepuyo got a total of $20,174 for representing Mathilda Rosario, who is the special assistant for administration to the governor, and Frances Dela Cruz, who is the executive assistant to Torres.

The law office of Matthew T. Gregory got $4,737 as counsel for Bernie Palacios, who is the chief of finance and accounting.

The JGO Committee, chaired by Rep. Celina R. Babauta (D-Saipan), has pretty much concluded the hearings now that the House of Representatives had already impeached Torres. The matter has now been elevated to the Senate, which is now drafting the rules that will govern the impeachment trial.