By Bryan Manabat
bryan@mvariety.com
Variety News Staff
MOSES Pangelinan Cabrera, 79, was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison for killing his younger brother during a drunken argument in 2024, after a Superior Court judge accepted a revised plea agreement supported by both families.
Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho sentenced Cabrera to the maximum 10-year term for voluntary manslaughter, with two years suspended. Cabrera will receive credit for 514 days already served and will be eligible for parole.
Cabrera pleaded guilty during a change-of-plea hearing Wednesday. He admitted to striking his brother, Pedro Pangelinan Cabrera, several times in the head with a hammer during a heated confrontation at their family property on Aug. 1, 2024. Prosecutors said the killing occurred in the heat of passion after the brothers argued about a tree Pedro wanted removed to build a house.
According to the court, Cabrera told the judge he was walking away when Pedro hit him on the back of the head with a sharp object. Cabrera said he reacted by grabbing a hammer and striking his brother, who died at the scene.
The case initially included charges of second-degree murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and aggravated assault and battery. Prosecutors later amended the filing to a single count of voluntary manslaughter, carrying a maximum 10-year prison term.
Camacho rejected an earlier plea agreement in October but accepted the revised deal after reviewing a pre-sentence report, medical records, and 15 letters from both families urging leniency. Several relatives also spoke in court, telling the judge there were no lingering grudges between the families.
In explaining his decision, Camacho cited Cabrera’s age, lack of criminal history, acceptance of responsibility, and documented health problems. The judge noted that an eight-year prison term for a man approaching 80 “will likely amount to a life sentence.”
Upon release, Cabrera will serve 10 years of supervised probation. He must undergo evaluation by the Community Guidance Center and complete any recommended treatment, including anger-management or substance-abuse counseling. He is barred from possessing alcohol, drugs, or weapons and must pay $225 in fines and court costs.
Cabrera was taken into custody immediately after sentencing. The jury trial previously scheduled for March 30 was vacated.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
