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Villagomez, co-defendants file 10 motions, hearing on Dec. 11
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Posted on Nov 24 2008
Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez and his co-defendants have filed a total of 10 pre-trial motions in federal court.
U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Alex R. Munson set the hearing for all motions on Dec. 11, 2008, at 9am. Munson said that Lt. Gov. Villagomez submitted six motions, James A. Santos two, and Joaquina V. Santos two.
Villagomez filed a motion to dismiss the indictment for failure to state an offense, motion to dismiss count 1 of the indictment, motion to dismiss the indictment for outrageous government conduct, motion for a bill of particulars, motion to allow voir dire by counsel, and motion to allow the use of a jury questionnaire.
James Santos, a former Commerce Secretary, filed a motion to compel discovery and motion to dismiss the 1998-2000 transaction in count 1 of the indictment.
Joaquina Santos filed a motion to dismiss the indictment and a motion for a bill of particulars.
Lt. Gov. Villagomez joined in all Mr. and Mrs. Santos’ motions.
Mrs. Santos joined Villagomez’s motions for a bill of particulars and to allow voir dire by counsel.
The indictment charged Villagomez, James Santos and his wife Joaquina, and former Commonwealth Utilities Corp. executive director Anthony Guerrero with wire fraud, conspiracy, and theft involving federal funds.
The four allegedly conspired to bilk the CNMI government out of thousands of dollars through business deals involving chemical purchases for CUC.
All defendants, except Guerrero, pleaded not guilty.
