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Man in armed robbery at Rota poker pleads guilty
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Posted on May 26 2009
A man who is facing charges in federal court of robbing a poker establishment on Rota entered a guilty plea yesterday.
Wilbur Vic Masga Inos signed a plea agreement with the U.S. government. He pleaded guilty to one count of use of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime.
U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Alex R. Munson accepted Inos’ guilty plea and set the sentencing for Sept. 1, 2009.
Inos’ lawyer, Robert T. Torres, said his client is taking responsibility for his actions.
“Being a young man, he was able to decide to accept responsibility and, by serving his sentence, will make amend to the community for his conduct and we’ll look forward to the day when he is able to return to become a productive member of society,” Torres said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney James Benedetto represented the case on behalf of the U.S. government.
Police arrested Inos about an hour after the robbery at Rota Poker was reported to the Rota Department of Public Safety on Aug. 4, 2008.
Detective George A. Barcinas stated in his report that when interrogated, Inos surrendered the money he took and explained that he only did it because his son is in critical condition in Guam.
Inos was subsequently indicted in federal court with one count of Hobbs Act robbery and one count of use of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime.
Police said a masked man entered the poker establishment and pointed a rifle at the cashier and demanded money.
Police’s investigation led to the recovery of a black AR-15 rifle, its magazine, and three rounds of bullets, from a roof of the barracks owned by Rota Mayor Joseph Inos, the defendant’s father.
The younger Inos is facing separate robbery charges in the Superior Court over the same incident.
