Court throws Cabrera to 33-month jail term

Down to the final moments of his sentence hearing, former Finance Secretary Antonio R. Cabrera maintained yesterday his claim of innocence despite a jury verdict that convicted him guilty on three counts of theft before the US District Court.

Finding the ex-government official liable to acts of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, District Judge Alex R. Munson sentenced the 41-year-old defendant to two years and nine months incarceration.

His 33-month jail term is to be followed by three years of supervised release.

Further, the defendant has been ordered to pay $56,461.98 in restitution, a $15,000 fine, and $300 in special assessment.

Saying he is prepared to serve any sentence the court deems just, the defendant, however, instructed his new counsel Danny Aguilar to file a judgment appeal within 10 days.

A government motion to remand the defendant into the custody of the US Marshal’s Service was also granted by the court.

During yesterday’s sentencing, the defendant surprised the court when he claimed responsibility for his actions, without admitting guilt to charges the court had determined

“I am not trying to deny the accusations. But I am unhappy with the outcome. I am more than willing to accept responsibility and be accountable for my actions,” said Mr. Cabrera, who apparently embraced ownership for his actions for the first time yesterday since the beginning of his trial.

Before the judge released sentence, the defense and prosecution panels argued on record guidelines set by the Probation Office.

Mr. Munson denied all motions made by the defense except for the four-level step departure which relieved Mr. Cabrera from being serving a higher sentence than the 33 months imprisonment recommended by government prosecutor John Rice.

“As for the sentence, we noted it down that in fact the sentence should have been at the low end of the scale of 27 months. It shouldn’t have been 33 but Mr. Cabrera has accepted it, as the court believes based on those findings,” said Mr. Aguilar.

Reacting to the court judgment, the prosecution panel commended the court for handing an appropriate sentence.

“We think this sends a message as the judge said on the bench that people who take positions with the CNMI government are going to be held accountable for the money of the taxpayers. Just like the judge said, if you do violate that trust, you will be punished. When one is punished, there’s a message sent out to others, that this is something that will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he said.

Last July 13, 2000 the defendant was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of theft and bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, and transportation of stolen property.

After a six-day trial the following October, Mr. Cabrera was found guilty on three counts of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds.

The charges resulted from a joint investigation conducted by the US Department of Interior, the Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the CNMI Office of the Public Auditor.

Mr. Cabrera was proven guilty of 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.