Former police officer Victor Val Borja Hocog has been charged again, this time for allegedly selling crystal meth on Saipan last September.<\/p>\n
According to documents filed in Superior Court, the Office of the Attorney General filed an information last March 8, charging the 42-year-old Hocog with trafficking of a controlled substance and illegal possession of a controlled substance.<\/p>\n
Hocog appeared without counsel at his arraignment on March 13. Presiding Judge Roberto C. Naraja appointed assistant public defender Cindy Nesbit as his counsel. <\/p>\n
Hocog pleaded not guilty to the charges.<\/p>\n
There will be a status conference on March 28 at 9am before Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio.<\/p>\n
Assistant attorney general Matthew Baisley appeared for the government.<\/p>\n
According to court papers, CNMI Drug Enforcement Task Force arrested Hocog on Oct. 10, 2016, after he allegedly sold $240 worth of methamphetamine or \u201cice\u201d to a \u201ccooperating source\u201d in As Lito on Sept. 15, 2016.<\/p>\n
The case was sealed and Hocog was later released after he promised to assist law enforcement as a confidential informant. The case was unsealed and Hocog was re-arrested after he allegedly failed to cooperate in ongoing investigations.<\/p>\n
The OAG filed the information last March 8. Hocog was not re-arrested; the clerk of court instead summoned him to appear for last Monday\u2019s arraignment.<\/p>\n
Regarding Hocog\u2019s alleged drug activities, investigator George Fleming David stated in his report that their \u201ccooperating source\u201d managed to buy $240 worth of \u201cice\u201d during a buy-walk operation in the parking lot of a store in As Lito last Sept. 15.<\/p>\n
David said their \u201ccooperating source\u201d was able to purchase \u201cice\u201d from Hocog a month before that operation.<\/p>\n
David said at the Sept. 15 drug-walk operation, Hocog and the \u201ccooperating source\u201d agreed to meet in the parking lot of a store in As Lito. <\/p>\n
While the \u201ccooperating source\u201d was waiting for Hocog in the parking lot, the defendant allegedly sent a text message, asking the \u201ccooperating source\u201d to instead meet him at his residence on Chalan Martinez Road in As Lito.<\/p>\n
David said Hocog was referring to the residence of his parents.<\/p>\n
The \u201ccooperating source\u201d stated that a friend only dropped him\/his off at the store\u2019s parking lot.<\/p>\n
Hocog allegedly later texted that he was on his way to the store\u2019s parking lot.<\/p>\n
David said after a few minutes, Hocog texted again, asking the \u201ccooperating source\u201d to meet with him elsewhere.<\/p>\n
The \u201ccooperating source\u201d told Hocog he could not go somewhere else because his\/her friend would be coming back.<\/p>\n
Hocog allegedly replied he was on his way.<\/p>\n
David said Hocog arrived aboard a Toyota pickup truck with license plate ADF-201 at the store\u2019s parking lot and the \u201ccooperating source\u201d then went inside the truck for the drug purchase.<\/p>\n
David said during a test, the \u201cice\u201d that Hocog sold to the \u201ccooperating source\u201d was presumptive positive for the presence of meth.<\/p>\n
Pertaining to his prior criminal convictions, on Sept. 25, 2014, Hocog was sentenced to 15 months in prison without parole after he pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a controlled substance. The defendant was credited for 226 days of time served. His release date from the Department of Corrections was April 15, 2015.<\/p>\n
Drug Enforcement Task Force police detective Jeffrey I. Norita stated in his report that during two transactions in January 2014, the then-active police officer Hocog handed a total of $100 worth of \u201cice\u201d to the Task Force\u2019s \u201ccooperating source\u201d at a poker arcade in As Lito.<\/p>\n
During the first transaction, Norita said, Hocog used a brown sports utility vehicle bearing a license plate AEG-871. <\/p>\n
Officers revealed that the SUV was then leased to the office of then-senator Victor Hocog, who is the defendant\u2019s father and is now the lieutenant governor.<\/p>\n
In 2009, the OAG charged the younger Hocog with assault and battery, attempted kidnapping, kidnapping, and unlawful possession of a controlled substance.<\/p>\n
In 2011, he pleaded guilty to assault and battery. Naraja sentenced him to one year in prison, all suspended except for nine days. Naraja gave him credit for the 9 days of time served.<\/p>\n
The Department of Public Safety hired Hocog back in August 2013. It\u2019s not clear as to when DPS terminated him. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former police officer Victor Val Borja Hocog has been charged again, this time for allegedly…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4710,16055,6216,2629],"class_list":["post-248684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","tag-cindy-nesbit","tag-ex-cop-hocog","tag-matthew-baisley","tag-suv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248684\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}