3rd person in corruption case to be brought to Saipan

Carl Cabrera, who allegedly conspired with two Saipan policemen in peddling illegal drugs that were believed to be part of stolen evidence, appeared at the U.S. District Court on Guam yesterday and will be brought to Saipan possibly today or tomorrow to face charges against him.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Frederick Black said Cabrera did not contest the prosecution’s request to transfer the case to Saipan’s federal court, where an indictment has been filed against Cabrera and police officers Eric John Tudela Mafnas and Charley K. Patris.

The FBI arrested Cabrera on Guam Tuesday morning.

In yesterday’s proceeding, Cabrera, represented by federal defender Richard Arens, admitted before designated judge Frances Gatewood that he is the person who is the subject of the pending criminal case, according to Black.

Cabrera will be arraigned in Saipan’s federal court on a charge of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least five grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride, commonly known as ice, sometime in 2003.

Federal authorities believe that the ice was part of locally seized evidence that was stolen from the custody of the CNMI Department of Public Safety.

The FBI nabbed Mafnas and Patris at the premises of Saipan’s DPS on Tuesday, the same day that FBI agents were arresting Cabrera on Guam.

The FBI tagged Mafnas as the organizer and leader of the criminal activity, accusing the policeman of stealing from the DPS evidence room some 46 grams of ice sometime on May 13, 2003.

A 15-page indictment filed by federal prosecutor Patrick Smith accused the policemen of abusing their position to steal money and illegal drugs from DPS custody several times.

The indictment charged Mafnas and Patris with conspiracy to commit theft, perjury and to make false statements, as well as theft relating to programs receiving federal funds.

Smith accused the policemen of embezzling properties valued at over $5,000 from April 2002 through December 2003, which were in the custody of the DPS, an agency that receives more than $10,000 in federal funds annually.

Smith also charged the two policemen and Cabrera with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least five grams of ice sometime in 2003. He separately charged Mafnas with possession with intent to distribute approximately 46 grams of ice, which the policeman allegedly stole from the DPS.

The indictment also charged Mafnas and Patris with a count each of false statements and perjury for allegedly lying to the FBI and a federal jury in December 2003 that former CNMI assistant attorney general Dan Wolfe had authorized the destruction of the 46 grams of ice Mafnas took from the evidence room. Mafnas claimed to have burned the ice, while Patris claimed witnessing it.

Both policemen have denied the charges.

The court allowed the policemen’s temporary release on unsecured bonds after their arraignment last Tuesday.