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2 men plead guilty to burglary
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Posted on Nov 13 2006
Two of three men who were charged for burglarizing the CNMI Water Task Force’s warehouse in Lower Base and stealing $61,181 worth of equipment entered a guilty plea yesterday.
Ryan Duenas, 20, and Anthony P. Santos, 35, and their respective lawyers, Joseph Arriola and assistant public defender Samuel Randall, signed a plea agreement with the government.
Duenas and Santos pleaded guilty to burglary. The remaining charges were dismissed as part of the agreement.
Assistant attorney general John Aguon represented the CNMI government.
Superior Court Presiding Judge Robert C. Naraja accepted the plea and set the sentencing for Dec. 12 at 2pm.
Naraja directed the government to submit a report on how the defendants could make restitution.
Duenas, Santos, and Francisco Reyes Santos, 49, were charged with conspiracy to commit burglary, burglary, theft, criminal mischief, and solicitation to commit burglary.
Duenas and Anthony Santos entered a plea agreement. The case against Francisco Santos is pending in court.
According to the agreement, on or between July 29 to Aug. 1, 2005, Duenas and Anthony Santos burglarized the CNMI Water Task Force warehouse with the intention of stealing several spools of wire and machinery.
A police detective stated in his report that the three defendants conspired to break into the CNMI Water Task Force’s warehouse in Lower Base.
An estimated $61,181 worth of equipments belonging to the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. was stolen.
The Department of Public Safety’s Thief Apprehension Select Coalition and Special Investigation Section conducted an investigation after receiving a tip that the defendants were responsible for the burglary.
The tip led the agents on Nov. 2, 2005, to recover in the bottom of Suicide Cliff in Marpi parts of the welding machine that was among the items stolen.
Apparently, the defendants threw the welding machine over the cliff.
