By Gina Tabonares
Variety News Staff

A DISMISSED member of the Guam Police Department who pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges was ordered to go back to prison after the District Court of Guam denied his appeal to set aside or correct his sentence.
Jason Coburian Ortiola, 27, filed a motion to vacate his Sept. 20, 2006 sentencing during which he was ordered by the court to serve a total of six years of incarceration to be followed by a total of three years supervised release.
In a motion filed on Dec. 8, 2006, Ortiola claimed that the judgment against him should be vacated because he was denied a counsel’s effective assistance.
Ortiola told the court that his former attorney, Howard Trapp, did not give him feedback or show any more interest in his case despite the fact that the district court judge gave him 10 days to appeal the sentence.
The former police officer said when he spoke with his attorney on Nov. 28 via telephone, his lawyer advised him to “just serve the time.”
“I felt that my attorney had denied or rejected me and did not give assistance which would have been effective,” Ortiola stated in his motion.
During a hearing on March 16, 2007, Trapp testified that after several discussions with Ortiola, he believed that the former police officer understood and agreed with his assessment of the case, including the decision not to appeal regardless of the outcome of their objections to the government’s pre-sentencing report.
The lawyer told the court that he was never remiss in explaining to his former client the appeal rights, including the distinction between direct appeal and collateral attack, as well as the difference between appealing the conviction and appealing the sentence imposed.
He asserted that Ortiola never gave him any indication that he was dissatisfied with his sentence but after the deadline for filing his notice of appeal had expired, contacted him to inquire about a possible sentence reduction.
District Court of Guam Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood finds the uncontested testimony of Trapp highly credible.
The court finds that Trapp’s actions in not filing a notice of appeal were professionally reasonable under the totality of the circumstances.
Judge Tydingco-Gatewood also noted that Ortiola was a law enforcement officer and had more of an understanding of the legal and judicial system than the typical defendant.
Because the former police officer failed to demonstrate that there was reasonable probability that his former counsel failed to consult with him about an appeal, the court ordered the U.S. Marshal to transport Ortiola to a designated prison facility to serve the remainder of his sentence.
The former police officer assigned to the Tamuning-Tumon precinct was caught selling a half gram of “ice” for $300 while on duty, while wearing his uniform, and while carrying a GPD-issued .9mm pistol.
He was sentenced on Sept. 20, 2006 after entering a guilty plea to distribution of methamphetamine hydrochloride while on duty and carrying a firearm during the drug trafficking. He was dismissed from service after his arrest on June 8, 2005.