By Gina Tabonares
Variety News Staff

FORMER Senator William “Willy” Flores’s eight-month incarceration in an off-island federal detention facility has been delayed for a month.
On Monday, District Court of Guam Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood granted Flores’s motion for a stay of execution of his sentence on humanitarian grounds.
Flores was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment on Oct. 27, 2005 after he pleaded guilty to money laundering charges filed against him and former chief of staff Gil Shinohara.
He was supposed to report to the U.S. court marshals on Tuesday so he could be taken into custody to begin his off-island incarceration.
However, his mother died last week and her funeral is scheduled for Saturday.
This prompted Flores to file the motion through his lawyer, David J. Highsmith, and asked the court for a 30-day stay of execution of his sentence.
His motion was granted and he shall not be incarcerated until April 13, 2007.
Highsmith is also waiting for the result of their motion for reconsideration which they filed in the 9th Circuit Court which earlier affirmed Flores and Shinohara’s convictions.
Flores, as part of his plea agreement, cooperated with federal authorities and testified against Shinohara and Takahisa Goto who were sentenced in federal court after they concocted a scheme to defraud the Bank of Guam some $300,000.
The bank originally loaned the conspirators $2 million to purchase Pedro’s Plaza and committed to lend them an additional $1 million to renovate and repair the typhoon-damaged, abandoned multi-story office building in Hagatna.
Instead of making the renovations, they diverted $300,000 for their personal use.
Shinohara was sentenced to a 32-month incarceration with a $10,000 fine, as well as $150,000 restitution, while Goto was ordered to be locked up in his house for three months with electronic monitoring and two years of probation.
Shinohara is still in a local jail while waiting for the disposition of the government corruption case filed against him in connection with the retirement of former Gov. Carl T.C. Gutierrez.
Gutierrez and former Retirement Fund director John Rios were earlier indicted but their indictment was dismissed.
Shinohara has been scheduled to return to court on March 27 for the criminal trial setting of the retirement case.