HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The former interim executive manager of the Guam Regional Transit Authority made his first appearance in court since being indicted on theft charges.
Last month, five of the seven public officials being prosecuted by the Government Corruption Division at the Office of the Attorney General pleaded not guilty to their charges. The two remaining, Richard Ybanez, the former interim executive manager of the Guam Regional Transit Authority, and Jennifer Badar Cruz, the Transit certifying officer, appeared in the Superior Court of Guam on Wednesday morning.
Ybanez was off island at the time of the last hearing and Cruz had yet to retain attorney, according to Post files.
Magistrate Judge Jonathan Quan on Wednesday said he would have to recuse himself from the case.
“I’m familiar with several of the defendants so, given that, I’m going to disqualify myself and I’m going to push this to Judge (Benjamin) Sison on Aug. 15,” Quan said as Ybanez and Cruz’s cases were each called.
The defendants in the Transit case, along with Ybanez and Cruz, include Transit board chair Alejo Sablan; Hågat Mayor Kevin Susuico, Transit board member; and Inalåhan Mayor Anthony Chargualaf, Transit board member.
Two Department of Public Health and Social Services officials – Director Arthur San Agustin and Public Health Chief Environmental Health Officer Masatomo “Tom” Nadeau – are facing separate corruption charges filed by the attorney general’s office.
Representation
In addition to Ybanez and Cruz expecting to answer their charges before Sison, the conditions for their release will be set and it will be determined whether Cruz can be represented by the Public Defender Service Corp.
According to Post files, when Cruz appeared last month, she explained she couldn’t afford an attorney. She wasn’t eligible to retain the Public Defender, however, based on her income and number of dependents.
At the hearing, Stephen Hattori, executive director at the Public Defender, appeared and explained he had filed a motion for his office to be appointed after reviewing her finances.
“We believe that if we are not appointed to represent her, … she will be unable to retain private counsel,” Hattori said.
Allegations related to hiring
The charges the Transit officials and board members are facing stem from Ybanez’s time as GRTA interim executive manager between April 2022 and May 2023. The prosecution has alleged that Ybanez wasn’t qualified to hold the position due to not having the “the requisite college degree.”
The board members and staff were indicted on charges connected to Ybanez’s hiring.
Richard Ybanez
