Babauta’s fate now with jury

The trial of former Commonwealth Utilities Corp. laboratory manager Pedro Babauta concluded yesterday at the U.S. District Court, with the jury now deliberating on their verdict.

Babauta is facing charges of conspiracy and false documents that defrauded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The charges stemmed from investigation conducted by the EPA. The Division of Environmental Quality assisted in the probe.

Each count of the indictment carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years, three years of supervised release, and a fine equaling the greater of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss from the offense.

In his closing argument, federal prosecutor Timothy Moran stressed that bad data regarding CUC’s water samples were replaced by good data to conceal the true microbiological content of drinking water.

Moran said the EPA and its local arm, the DEQ, would like to know that Saipan’s drinking water is safe. Falsification of water sampling data defrauded the EPA, he said. It also put public health at risk.

“He [Babauta] wants CUC to look good. He hid data from the people of Saipan,” Moran told the jurors.

Moran noted that the defendant is the husband of CUC executive director Lorraine Babauta, who witnessed yesterday’s proceeding.

Defense attorney G. Anthony Long blamed former CUC laboratory technician Mariano Iglecias for the mess. Long said that Iglecias, who became the CNMI government’s employee of the year sometime in 2000, couldn’t admit responsibility and passed the blame to Babauta.

“Pete is not a devil and he has not made any falsified report,” Long said. “Mariano will do anything to protect himself and blamed Pete instead.” Iglecias had testified earlier against Babauta.

Long said that Babauta has nothing to gain in falsifying data. He said that Iglecias made mistakes in certain drafts. “Nobody’s perfect. Mistakes are made.”

“This is a case of power. The defendant had it. He was the boss. His wife is the executive director,” Moran said in his rebuttal argument, adding that the defendant could even have House Vice Speaker and former CUC executive director Timothy Villagomez and CUC special advisor for corporate communications Pamela Mathis to testify for his defense.

Moran insisted that there was a conspiracy between Babauta and Iglecias in tampering water sampling data. It was Babauta who instructed Iglecias to do the tampering, he said.

The laboratory manager retired from the government service sometime in 2003 after the DEQ slapped the CUC with citations over various violations of drinking water regulations, including the alleged tampering of water sampling results.

An indictment filed against Babauta in federal court last year alleged that the former laboratory manager conspired with other persons to conceal the true microbiological content of CUC’s public water system on different occasions over a four-year period. The charges against Babauta include conspiracy to defraud the EPA and four counts of false documents.