Man implicated in Hocog’s case wants trial on Tinian

A Tinian resident who was charged in connection with the arrest of former police officer Victor Val B. Hocog for alleged trafficking of methamphetamine or “ice” on Saipan has asked the Superior Court to hold the trial on Tinian.
Jeffrey Hoashi Borja, 42, in a declaration filed on Friday, claimed that due to his health condition including hemophilia, it is hard for him to travel from Tinian to Saipan to attend the trial and back to Tinian again.

Borja said he is currently unemployed, has no place on Saipan, and cannot afford to pay for a hotel and travel expenses.

He asked the court to hold the trial on Tinian on Sept. 12, 2014, at 9am.

Attorney Matthew T. Gregory, counsel for Borja, said the government’s factual summary contains many outright falsehoods that are unnecessary for the determination of the trial’s venue.

Citing a brief summary of the facts alleged by the prosecution, Gregory disclosed that on Jan. 23, 2014, the court issued a search warrant against Hocog, a then-police officer who was the target of an investigation. Gregory said Borja was not a target of the search warrant or the subject of an investigation.

Pursuant to the search warrant, Gregory said, the police conducted a “buy-walk operation” on Jan. 25 and 26, 2014, involving Hocog.

The lawyer said Borja was not implicated in either of these two “buy-walk operations” as the transactions involved only Hocog and a confidential source.

Gregory said that after Hocog’s arrest on Jan. 26, Borja, a passenger in Hocog’s vehicle, was released and not arrested.

Only after Hocog’s lengthy discussion with then co-employees at the Department of Public Safety on Jan. 27, 2014, did Borja become the subject of an investigation, Gregory said.

“Suspiciously, police officer Hocog managed to convince his co-employees that he was not guilty and that Borja was to be charged for alleged drugs allegedly found in Hocog’s car,” the lawyer pointed out.

While many of the witnesses and events took place on Saipan, Gregory said that Borja is from Tinian and therefore a potential witness does in fact live on Tinian. Additional witnesses from Tinian may be necessary for this case, he added.

Borja has been granted temporary release from the Department of Corrections.

In October 2007, the federal court slapped Borja with a five-month prison term for distribution of “ice” near a school on Tinian.

Last February, Superior Court Associate Judge David A. Wiseman found probable cause to warrant the filing of charges against Hocog. Wiseman ordered the 39-year-old Hocog to answer the charges of two counts of trafficking of a controlled substance and two counts of illegal possession of controlled substance. Hocog pleaded not guilty.

Drug Enforcement Task Force detective Jeffrey Norita stated in his report that members of the CNMI Drug Enforcement Task Force and Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force conducted two monitored controlled buy-walk operations, during which Hocog handed a total of $100 worth of “ice” to the Task Force’s cooperating source at a poker arcade in As Lito. Hocog was then temporarily released upon posting a $10,000 cash bail plus other many conditions.

CNMI court marshals arrested Hocog again on April 4 after he tested positive for “ice” use. Superior Court Presiding Judge Robert C. Naraja reinstated s previous order imposing a $100,000 cash bail plus other conditions for Hocog’s temporary release.

Hocog is son of Sen. Victor Hocog (R-Rota).