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iConnect sues 3 men responsible for facility’s blast
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Posted on Jun 04 2006
iConnect has sued the three men who were responsible for setting on fire its facility at Mt. Tapochau in 2004.
Choice Phone LLC, owner of iConnect, sued Marvin Leon Guerrero, John P.R. Mendiola, and Andrew K. Quiambao, for conversion of chattels and unfair business practices.
Choice Phone also included as co-defendant Communication Specialist Inc., a two-way radio business that was a competitor of iConnect and owned by Leon Guerrero at that time.
The plaintiff, through counsel Robert J. O’Connor, asked the Superior Court to order the defendants to pay damages to include repair of the facility and lost profits, attorney’s fees, and court costs.
O’Connor demanded the transfer of the Communication Specialist Inc.’s business property, licenses to facilities to compensate for damages.
Leon Guerrero, Mendiola, and Quiambao are presently serving jail term in federal prison in Lompoc, California, for their conviction over the iConnect blast.
O’Connor stated in the complaint that on Feb. 7, 2004, Mendiola and Quiambao using gasoline set fire to the iConnect facility.
O’Connor said the ensuing explosion destroyed a vital iConnect radio site, Motorola iDen Base station equipment, Motorola Smartnet repeater equipment, and other related communications equipment.
The powerful explosion also destroyed the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s equipment and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s communications equipment.
O’Connor said Leon Guerrero was the mastermind of the planned and deliberate destruction of a competitor’s communications facilities.
Leon Guerrero, Quiambao, and Mendiola, were prosecuted and pleaded guilty. Leon Guerrero was sentenced to five years in prison. Mendiola and Quiambao were sentenced to 37 months in jail.
“The act of sabotage of plaintiff’s communications facilities was done to gain an unfair business advantage by the defendants, and did give them an unfair advantage until plaintiff’s services could be restored,” the lawyer alleged.
