Guerrero, who took the witness stand in the ongoing jury trial of Villagomez and his co-defendants, former Commerce Secretary James A. Santos and wife Joaquina V. Santos, underwent cross examination by defense lawyer David Lujan yesterday.
Guerrero said he was given a recording device by the FBI and told to record his conversations with Villagomez.
“I didn’t know what the purpose was or what it was for,” Guerrero said.
He said he called Villagomez at around 4:25 p.m. on July 20, 2008 but was unsuccessful.
When Villagomez called him back, Guerrero said he told the lt. governor that he was being “grilled” about CUC’s Rydlyme transaction.
Guerrero said Villagomez neither made any incriminating statements nor told him to lie or mislead the FBI.
He said he placed his second call to Villagomez on July 21 at 7:15 a.m., the morning before he testified before a grand jury.
He said the conversation lasted for about three minutes.
Villagomez, he added. told him to do what was right and let the FBI complete its investigation.
Guerrero placed another recorded call to Villagomez at 6:52 a.m. on July 22, 2008 while the lt. governor was in Minnesota en route to New York.
The call was not successful.
Guerrero said he placed another call at 1:35 p.m. on the same day and talked to Villagomez for nine minutes.
He said he told Villagomez he was nervous.
Again, in answer to the Lujan’s question, Guerrero said Villagomez did not tell him to lie to the law enforcements or hide any information.
During the cross examination, Lujan pointed out that Guerrero signed the requisition voucher under the name of another person when there was no one occupying that particular position at that time.
It was learned that on Oct. 22, 2007, CUC did not have a chief operations officer after Patrick Leon Guerrero went on vacation and eventually retired.
Anthony Guerrero said he signed for the chief operations officer as he took over some of the duties left by Patrick Leon Guerrero.
He said he took over the role of the chief operations officer to oversee matters regarding power, water and wastewater concerns as well as CUC’s daily operations.
The court agreed to extend the trial after the 4 p.m. recess.
Yesterday was the 15th day of the jury trial presided by U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Alex R. Munson.
Guerrero and the other co-defendants were charged with conspiracy to defraud the federal government, wire fraud and theft concerning federal funds.
Guerrero already pleaded guilty and agreed to work with the prosecution in the case.
Villagomez and the Santos couple are out after each posted a $50,000 bail.
