Villagomez: Bribery charges based on conjecture

Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez has argued that the bribery charges filed against him are based on conjecture and speculations by the U.S. government.

Villagomez, through lawyer David J. Lujan, said the U.S. government alleging that he received two checks and making the “giant leap in logic” that it constitutes bribery with no factual basis places him in an impossible situation in preparing his defense.

“At this point, [Villagomez] should not be impermissibly compelled to prepare a defense based upon the conjecture and speculation of the government that the mere receipt of checks constitutes bribery,” said Lujan in Villagomez’s motion for a bill of particulars.

Bill of particulars refers to a list of written statements made by a party to a court proceeding, upon demand of the other party. The list sets itemizes details of a claim or defense.

Last month, the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Villagomez and co-defendants James and Joaquina Santos with bribery concerning a program receiving federal funds, conspiracy to defraud and to commit offenses against the U.S., wire fraud, and theft concerning a program receiving federal funds.

The new indictment alleged that Villagomez accepted a $15,000 bribe from the Santos couple for approving the purchase of Rydlyme, a cleaning and de-scaling chemical, for the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.

The Santos couple was also charged with bribery for allegedly offering the $15,000 to Villagomez.

Villagomez and the Santos couple pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In the motion for a bill of particulars, Lujan said a provision in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedures allows a bill of particulars in order to identify with sufficient particularity the nature of the charge pending against a defendant, thereby enabling him to prepare for trial, and to prevent surprise.

Lujan said a plain reading of the first superseding indictment shows that all that is alleged is that James Santos delivered two checks to Villagomez.

“There are no factual allegations as to what the alleged ‘bribe’ payments were for or when they occurred, and under what circumstances,” the lawyer noted.

He said if the federal court does not grant either of Villagomez’s motion, his client requests that the U.S. government be required to furnish them with information that specifies the provision of the CNMI procurement laws and regulations that are alleged to have been violated in transmitting the checks.

Lujan also asked to be provided with specific federal regulations that these checks allegedly violate.

He asked for the specific federal funds that were used by James Santos in the alleged bribes and what federal program they derived from.

Lujan also requested for specific acts that Villagomez was allegedly bribed to commit.

Lujan underscored the need to get specific information, considering that the U.S. government provided them approximately 3,000 pages of documents and tape recordings.

He said none of the documents and tape records refer to the actual circumstances of the alleged bribes, other than the presence of the actual checks.

Citing a precedent case, Lujan said it was held that the District Court committed reversible error in denying a motion for bill of particulars where the defendant was left unguided as to which of the 4,000 documents the government alleged were falsified.

“The criminal justice system envisioned by the drafters of our Constitution and the subsequent judicial interpretations of that document surely requires the defendant be afforded a fair opportunity to defend himself against the overwhelming resources of the government,” Lujan said.

Lujan said the government should be required to furnish the requested particulars so that Villagomez is notified of the nature of the charge pending against him with sufficient particularity to enable him to properly prepare his defense.

Joaquina Santos, who is Villagomez’s sister, through counsel Ramon K. Quichocho, joined in the motion. She did not offer arguments.