By Bryan Manabat
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
A SURVEILLANCE operation at the Department of Corrections led to the arrest of Cleon Reyes Pacho, 20, the 2025 Corrections Academy valedictorian, and Regina Camacho Bowie, 37, after officers intercepted an alleged contraband drop at the Susupe prison on Tuesday.
Both defendants appeared before Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo for a bail hearing Thursday while in Department of Corrections custody.
They are each charged with one count of promoting contraband (major or minor) under 6 CMC § 3205, an offense punishable by up to four years in prison, a fine of up to $1,500, or both.
Pacho was ordered to return for a continuation of his bail hearing on April 2 at 9 a.m. The court will appoint counsel to represent him.
Bowie, represented by Chief Public Defender Douglas Hartig, was ordered to return for a preliminary hearing on April 2 at 9 a.m. and for arraignment on April 6 at 9 a.m. Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds appeared for the government.
Both defendants were remanded to the Department of Corrections custody after the hearing.
Tip triggers surveillance
According to the criminal complaint, investigators from the Department of Public Safety’s Criminal Investigation Bureau and Corrections Internal Affairs launched a surveillance operation after receiving a tip that drugs and other contraband would be smuggled into the facility.
During the operation, officers observed a red Toyota Corolla pull into the northern employee parking lot. Pacho was seen walking toward the vehicle. A woman — later identified as Bowie — stepped out of the front passenger seat and handed him a plastic bag.
Inside the facility, Corrections officers searched the bag and found zip-lock bags containing a green leafy substance and a crystalline substance, along with barbecue sticks, sodas, smokeless tobacco, and lighters. The crystalline substance later tested positive for methamphetamine.
Statements to investigators
After the handoff, investigators conducted a traffic stop on the Corolla. Bowie, a passenger in the vehicle, told officers her boyfriend picked her up in Kagman and drove directly to Corrections. She said she noticed a white plastic bag in the car containing barbecue sticks, sodas, and coffee.
According to the complaint, Bowie said her boyfriend told her a Corrections officer would come out to meet her and instructed her to hand over the bag, which she did before leaving the area.
Pacho, in a voluntary statement, said he received a call from a woman asking to speak to an inmate and later requesting that he pick up food for the inmate. He said he told “Max” that he would bring the items to main control. Pacho said he asked another officer to cover mini control while he stepped out to retrieve the food.
He told investigators he walked outside, saw a woman exit a vehicle, and received the plastic bag without any conversation. As he returned inside, he said he was stopped by Capt. Benjamin Lizama. Pacho stated he did not know what was inside the bag and intended to bring it to his commander before being stopped.
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.
