Fate of two policemen now with jury

The jury trial on the criminal charges against police officers Charley K. Patris and Eric John Tudela Mafnas ended yesterday, with lawyers from the prosecution and defense panels giving out their final arguments for and against the conviction of the two lawmen. The jury now deliberates on the verdict.

The two police officers face criminal charges for allegedly stealing money and illegal drugs from the Department of Public Safety.

Federal prosecutor Jamie Bowers stressed the credibility of the testimony of Carl Cabrera, the policemen’s co-defendant who had entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Even though Cabrera did not know that methamphetamine seized from a drug trafficker was repackaged when it was sent to Guam for laboratory testing, the witness managed to describe the bottles where the “ice” were placed, Bowers said. After the laboratory testing, the ice registered a net weight of about 46.4 grams.

Based on Cabrera’s testimony, Mafnas would pinch ice from the big bottle and weigh it on a scale to sell the drug.

Bowers told the jurors that Patris became part of a conspiracy, saying that the latter covered up for Mafnas when inquiries as to where the drugs were cropped up. The prosecutor said Patris even went to a store parking lot to meet with Cabrera to advise the latter not to tell authorities what he knew about the drugs.

Bowers noted that former assistant attorney general Don Wolfe testified that he never instructed the two policemen to burn the ice—contrary to the officers’ claim. He said no letter from Wolfe was presented in evidence to establish that the latter had instructed the officers to burn the ice.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, however, recovered from the desk of Mafnas a letter from Wolfe instructing the officers to retrieve the ice coming from Guam. The trail of custody of the drug evidence ended with Mafnas.

Bowers also said Mafnas did not report to the Attorney General’s Investigative Unit as to what happened with the $1,000 he had procured for controlled drug-buy operations.

But Mafnas’ attorney, Stephanie Flores, said the absence of a report about the money did not mean that the officer stole it. She said Mafnas and Patris both claimed that there were a lot of controlled buys.

“It might not be good police work, but it’s not illegal,” Flores told the jurors. “Sloppy police work is not a crime.”

Flores said there was no evidence presented as whether the envelopes purportedly showing the trail of custody of the drug evidence actually contained ice and that Mafnas took it.

Flores assailed the credibility of Cabrera as a cooperating witness for the prosecution, saying that he changed his story after entering into a plea agreement with the government.

Perry Inos, attorney for Patris, said Cabrera has motive to lie after pleading guilty, since this would help him obtain a lenient sentence.

Inos insisted that the officers’ statement that they had burnt the ice upon the instruction of Wolfe was the truth.

“There’s no law that prohibits the two [officers] from burning and disposing of ice in a drum can,” Inos said. “It’s improper, but that doesn’t mean it’s illegal. It’s not a crime.”

Inos said there was no conspiracy between Patris and Mafnas to commit theft when the latter procured $1,000 from the AGIU.

The indictment charged Mafnas and Patris with conspiracy to commit theft, perjury and to make false statements, as well as theft concerning programs receiving federal funds. It accused the policemen of embezzling properties valued at over $5,000 from April 2002 through December 2003, which were in the custody of the DPS, an agency that received more than $10,000 in federal funds annually.

The indictment had also charged the two policemen and another person, Carl Cabrera, with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least five grams of ice sometime in 2003. It separately charged Mafnas with possession with intent to distribute approximately 46 grams of ice, which the policeman allegedly stole from the DPS.

The indictment also charged Mafnas and Patris with a count each of false statements and perjury for allegedly lying to the FBI and a federal jury in December 2003 that a then CNMI assistant attorney general, Dan Wolfe, authorized the destruction of the 46 grams of ice Mafnas took from the evidence room. Mafnas claimed to have burned the ice, while Patris claimed witnessing the burning of the evidence.