Charges vs ex-firefighter Benavente are reduced

Former firefighter Richard Sullivan Benavente has pleaded not guilty to an indictment that he allegedly lied during the trial of Raymond B. Roberto.

At his arraignment on Thursday, Benavente, through court-appointed counsel Michael Dotts, waived the advisement of his constitutional rights and the reading of the charges.

Benavente pleaded not guilty to the first superseding indictment charging him with one count of obstruction of justice and one count of perjury.

The original indictment charged Benavente with four charges: three counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice. It also included a criminal forfeiture allegation.

The first superseding indictment was filed last April 17. One count of obstruction of justice refers to Benavente’s alleged misleading statements and representations during an interview with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on April 25, 2014, concerning the phone number 789-3443, which he knew was critical evidence in the case against Roberto.

One count of perjury refers to Benavente’s testimony for the defense during the trial of Roberto on Sept. 9, 2014, in which he allegedly gave materially false testimony.

He testified that when he was arrested by police in July 2013, he surrendered everything to the Department of Public Safety, including the phone with number 789-3443 and another phone with number 789-3503.

The FBI and the prosecution alleged that Roberto used 789-3443 and not Benavente.

He testified that he got the phone with number 789-3443 from two of the three alleged victims and that he actually used the SIM card in that cell phone in calling the girls or other girls.

U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona on Thursday also granted assistant U.S. attorney Ross Naughton’s motion to postpone Benavente’s jury trial.

Manglona set the new trial date for May 26, 2015. The trial of Benavente was originally set for Dec. 8, 2014, and then reset to April 27, 2015.

In February 2014, Benavente pleaded guilty to a count of sexual exploitation of a child. The charge that he pleaded guilty to was the June 23, 2013, incident in which he “persuaded, induced, enticed, and coerced” the minor to have sex while being recorded on a cell phone.

Aside from Benavente, Randy A. Igisomar was also indicted in federal court for allegedly lying or changing their stories during Roberto’s trial. Igisomar pleaded guilty.

FBI agents recently arrested Alexandra Castro Macabalo for allegedly enticing her then-15-year-old cousin to have sex with Roberto in exchange for cash.

In September 2014, a federal court jury acquitted Roberto of all charges that he enticed three minor girls to engage in prostitution and one count of witness tampering. Roberto used to serve as acting director of the CNMI Division of Fish and Wildlife.