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Ex-DOC officer pleads guilty to bribery
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Posted on Apr 11 2023
A former Department of Corrections officer who is being accused of bribery has pleaded guilty to charges in the U.S. District Court for the NMI.
Ex-DOC officer Rainier Deleon Guerrero has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to bribe a public official and one count of receiving a bribe by a public official.
U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona accepted Deleon Guerrero’s guilty plea and scheduled his sentencing for Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, at 1:30pm. The court also vacated the scheduled jury trial and ordered that the plea agreement in the case be unsealed.
Deleon Guerrero remains released pending sentencing.
Court documents state that Deleon Guerrero was charged after allegedly receiving methamphetamine and $500 cash in exchange for smuggling a cell phone into prison.
According to the indictment issued against Deleon Guerrero and two others, their case involved a conspiracy to smuggle a cell phone with a charger into the Saipan prison for federal inmate Qiu Shuo in exchange for methamphetamine and $500 cash, to be paid to Deleon Guerrero in January 2022.
Deleon Guerrero’s co-defendants are Shou Qiu, also known as Ike, and Jiang Guang Zhang, aka Fat Brother.
The indictment stated that Qiu solicited the assistance of Deleon Guerrero from inside the prison, and Deleon Guerrero relied on his friend “GG” to coordinate with Qiu’s friend, Zhang, to facilitate the transaction.
It added that GG allowed Deleon Guerrero to use GG’s phone to communicate with Zhang. GG also communicated with Zhang on behalf of Deleon Guerrero, the indictment stated.
“After Zhang delivered methamphetamine and cash to Deleon Guerrero, GG reaped the reward of facilitating the exchange by smoking some of the methamphetamine with Deleon Guerrero” the indictment stated.
According to Saipan Tribune archives, Qiu was previously charged in federal court with one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, methamphetamine, and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
