Hillbroom bail reduced to $25K cash

The Supreme Court of the Republic of Palau Trial Division reduced Thursday last week the $250,000 cash bail that was earlier imposed on Junior Larry Hillbroom to just $25,000.

Upon posting the cash bond, Hillbroom shall be confined to his family home in Meyuns, said Associate Justice Lourdes F. Materne in her order.

Hillbroom may visit his counsel only after the court has been told about it and that an escort is secured for him.

Hillbroom is allowed to attend a court-ordered mediation in a civil action but he is not allowed to leave Palau without the court’s permission.

Materne barred Hillbroom from any contact with drug offenders and he will also be subjected to random drug testing at his own expense.

Materne issued the order after a hearing last Thursday on the Palau government’s motions to revoke Hillbroom’s bond, to try cases together, and the defendant’s motion to produce discovery.

The Palau government agreed to the bail reduction.

Rachel A. Dimitruk, counsel for Hillbroom, submitted a copy of Materne’s order to the U.S. District Court for the NMI last Friday.

Hillbroom was arrested last October in Palau for allegedly trafficking in methamphetamine or “ice.”

The information, which was filed by the Palau Office of the Attorney General last Oct. 6, charged Hillbroom with two counts of trafficking a controlled substance.

According to the charges, Hillbroom delivered or possessed with intent to deliver methamphetamine on April 11 and May 9, 2017.

Associate Justice Materne earlier ordered bail for $250,000 cash or $500,000 surety.

The trial of Hillbroom in connection with his previous arrest in 2016 pertaining to an “ice” trafficking case was supposed to commence in January 2018.

Hillbroom was released from jail last August after serving a 60-day prison sentence in Palau for pleading guilty to an escape charge.

Last July, attorney Barry Israel expressed doubt how Hillbroom’s lawsuit in the CNMI federal court can proceed, given Hillbroom’s 60-day prison term and a pending drug case in Palau.

Hillbroom filed in the CNMI a legal malpractice suit against his former counsel, Israel and Guam lawyer David J. Lujan.

Early this year, Hillbroom pleaded guilty to a lesser included offense of escape in the second degree before the Supreme Court of the Palau Trial Division and was slapped with a 60-day prison term.

Hillbroom is one of the four DNA-proven children of the late business tycoon and DHL co-founder Larry Lee Hillblom. He was recaptured in Palau hours after he escaped from police’s custody on Feb. 9, 2016, just a few hours after he was arrested over the seizure of $160,000 worth of methamphetamine or “ice.”

Hillbroom’s name is spelled differently from DHL co-founder Hillblom.