‘Hold Villagomez’s trial outside the CNMI’

Taotao Tano CNMI Association Inc. president Gregorio Cruz Jr. asked the U.S. Attorney’s Office yesterday to hold the jury trial of Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez and his co-defendants outside the CNMI in order to obtain “fair” jurors.

In a letter to assistant U.S. attorney Eric O’Malley, Cruz requested that the cases against Villagomez and co-defendants be moved off-island given its “critical and high profile nature and the close political and family relations in our homeland.”

He told O’Malley that, in past federal indictments in the CNMI, majority of defendants end up with “not guilty” verdicts and the cases are closed.

A staff at the U.S. Attorney’s Office confirmed receiving the letter and stated that she would hand over the letter to the prosecutor.

This case, Cruz said, is a high profile federal indictment involving the islands’ second highest government official, who continues to refuse to resign or step down from his post.

By holding such a position at this point, the Taotao Tano president said, “is a disgrace and a huge dishonor.”

“As…our homeland is tainted with nepotism, favoritism, corruption, self-interest and politics, we fear that this federal indictment will be derailed one way or the other, especially if individuals selected or chosen to be on the jury panel are members of our community that are either family or politically related,” he said.

Cruz cited his recent call to the Legislature for the immediate removal of Villagomez, which, according to him, was met unfavorably.

“We hope that your office accepts our concerns. …the suffering of the people of the Commonwealth must be heard and justice will be served with honor and integrity,” he told O’Malley.

Cruz stressed, though, that their group believes that in the U.S. justice system anyone charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty.

Villagomez, James Santos, his wife Joaquina Villagomez Santos, and former Commonwealth Utilities Corp. on charges of conspiring to defraud CUC of thousands of dollars through business deals involving needless chemical purchases for CUC.

Villagomez and the Santos couple pleaded not guilty. Guerrero signed a plea agreement and entered a guilty plea.

James Santos has already resigned as Commerce Secretary.