Ex-lawman gets 30 days imprisonment

The Superior Court yesterday sentenced a former lawman to 30 days imprisonment on assault and battery and disturbing the peace charges that stemmed from his threatening a woman with a gun on Christmas Day in 2003.

Associate judge David Wiseman convicted Luciano Rangamar, a former Division of Fish and Wildlife conservation officer, who changed his plea and admitted guilt on the two charges.

The judge dismissed the rest of the charges against Rangamar, including assault with a dangerous weapon and misuse of government vehicle.

Wiseman sentenced Rangamar to one-year imprisonment, which was suspended except for 30 days. The judge declared that Rangamar became an ideal candidate for probation due to his acceptance of responsibility and sincere remorse.

Rangamar voluntarily resigned from the DFW after facing charges, Wiseman said. The judge also noted that Rangamar has quit drinking liquor.

The Attorney General’s Office and Rangamar reached a plea agreement even as prosecutors were hampered by the court’s rejection of the victim’s statement to police. The woman, You Di Weng, had left the CNMI since Dec. 7, 2004, before Rangamar’s supposed trial.

Wiseman earlier ruled that the woman’s statement to a responding police officer could not be admitted as evidence because it was testimonial in nature and one that should afford Rangamar an opportunity to cross-examine it. Allowing the admission of Weng’s statements would deny Rangamar his Sixth Amendment right to personally confront and cross-examine the person who knowingly accused him of a crime, the judge said.

Wiseman noted that the government could have prohibited Weng’s departure from the CNMI due to her material witness status, but the AGO did not do that. He also noted that the AGO failed to obtain Weng’s testimony through a pre-trial deposition.

The woman had accused Rangamar of poking a gun at her head. Responding policeman Daniel Quitugua recovered Rangamar’s gun from his vehicle.

The AGO has also charged Rangamar with misuse of government vehicle for allegedly operating the vehicle with license plate no. 16-92 “for purposes other than official government business.” The vehicle misuse also allegedly happened on Christmas Day, a legal holiday. The court also dismissed that charge pursuant to the plea agreement.