Tudela: Mafnas, Patris will be terminated

Department of Public Safety commissioner Santiago Tudela said yesterday that he will terminate police officers Eric John Tudela Mafnas and Charley K. Patris, who were convicted on charges of stealing from the department evidence in the form of money and illegal drugs.

Tudela had placed the two police officers under suspension without pay since Jan. 14, 2005.

Before this, Tudela said that former commissioner Edward Camacho had placed Mafnas and Patris under administrative suspension, an employment status that allowed them to continuously receive pay.

Tudela said the two officers received pay for about seven months in the total amount of $28,174, mostly during Camacho’s term as commissioner. He said Mafnas received about $13,401, while Patris got some $14,773.

“They are subject to termination already,” Tudela said. “These two should have known in the first place that they should not take drugs and sell them.”

“When [people] trust you, you’re supposed to be doing what you’re supposed to do. You should be doing your duty to the highest standard,” he added.

Saipan’s federal court convicted Mafnas and Patris Tuesday after a full-blown jury trial.

The jury rendered an all-guilty verdict on Mafnas on the six charges filed against him: conspiracy to commit theft, perjury and making false statements; theft concerning programs receiving federal funds; conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine or “ice”; possession with intent to distribute ice; making false statements; and perjury.

It found Patris guilty of making false statements, perjury, and accessory after the fact to the drug charges against Mafnas, but declared him not guilty of the conspiracy and theft charges.

In a media statement, U.S. Attorney Leonardo Rapadas said his office is very pleased with the results of the case. He lauded federal and CNMI agencies involved in the investigation of the case, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the CNMI’s Attorney General’s Office, DPS, and the divisions of Customs and Immigration.

“We hope that this case sends a strong message that the CNMI will not tolerate police officers who steal drugs and put those back on the street,” Rapadas said.

Mafnas and Patris face up to 40 years and 20 years imprisonment, respectively. Chief Judge Alex R. Munson set their sentencing on Nov. 22.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy Moran and Jamie Bowers, assisted by FBI special agent Joseph Auther, accused the police officers of stealing evidence in the form of money and illegal drugs seized from drug dealers in different arrests. The police officers made false statements regarding the evidence they had stolen.

The indictment accused Mafnas 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 receives federal funds annually.

It charged Mafnas with peddling at least five grams of “ice” sometime in 2003, which were part of some 46 grams of ice that he had stolen from DPS custody.

The jury found that Mafnas and Patris made false statements when they claimed that then CNMI assistant attorney general Dan Wolfe authorized them to destroy the evidence.