Cabrera fires Arriola as counsel • Decision by the former finance secretary sends Court off-guard

Former Finance Secretary Antonio R. Cabrera decided to strip private lawyer Joey A. Arriola of authority to represent him in the remainder of his corruption case, informing the US District Court yesterday of his intention to seek new counsel.

The unexpected turn of events prompted District Judge Alex R. Munson to reset Mr. Cabrera’s sentencing date to Feb. 22, 2001, after the ex-government official requested for a 45-day continuance which the court viewed as unreasonable.

During his would-be sentence hearing yesterday, Mr. Cabrera informed the court of his decision not to retain the services of his private counsel, at the astonishment of everyone present, even Mr. Arriola himself. It was not clear why Mr. Cabrera made the move.

“I had no idea this was coming. I was prepared to go through with the sentencing today. I prepared objections to some of the pre-sentence report and worked extensively in anticipation of today,” Mr. Arriola told reporters in an interview.

In his last conversation with Mr. Cabrera the night before the sentencing, Mr. Arriola indicated that his former client made no mention of plans to terminate him from his legal duties.

“This is the first time this has ever happened. I am just surprised. But that’s his prerogative. A client has to be comfortable with his attorney, and maybe he is not satisfied with my representation,” he added.

While respecting Mr. Cabrera’s decision, Mr. Arriola did not pretend to hide his disappointment over what had transpired at the courtroom yesterday.

“Under the circumstances where you’re terminated before a judge just before we commence hearing on the sentencing, I don’t know what’s the appropriate word but I guess you could say it was disappointing. Then again, you have to respect the client’s wish,” he said.

At the hearing yesterday, Mr. Arriola also requested Judge Munson to approve his motion to withdraw as Mr. Cabrera’s attorney, adding that from here on, he no longer will be responsible for succeeding outcomes as far as the case is concerned. Judge Munson then ruled Mr. Cabrera’s official release from his former counsel.

Mr. Cabrera was convicted last year on three counts of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and was acquitted on two counts of bribery.

He may be facing up to 30 years imprisonment plus fines and restitution as punishment for the crime.

He was proven guilty for paying himself $5,840.73 in typhoon differential in Nov. 1996 while he was the secretary of the Department of Finance.

The payment covered eight storms from 1994 to 1996, two of which he was off-island on government-paid trips, even if he was not eligible being an excepted service employee of the CNMI, according to court documents and witnesses.

He was also convicted for pocketing $20,000 which he received as travel advance for a trip to Manila in December 1996. He later got reimbursement of $20,884.35 for receipts and expenses from that trip without deducting the initial payment.

The jury likewise found him guilty for releasing $30,621.25 from the local coffers without supporting papers to pay Candido Castro, owner of surveying firm Castro and Associates, for a federally-funded project on Tinian in December of the same year.

But Mr. Cabrera was acquitted on the two bribery counts stemming from that same incident even though Mr. Castro testified he gave $3,000 to the then finance chief as bribe to release the funds.

Each of the count carries a maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment and fine of up to $250,000, according to the US criminal code.