A FORMER Department of Corrections officer has been indicted in federal court for receiving methamphetamine and $500 cash in exchange for smuggling a cell phone into prison.
Rainier Relado Deleon Guerrero was charged with receiving bribe by a public official, and conspiracy to bribe a public official.
Deleon Guerrero’s co-defendants are Shou Qiu, also known as Ike, and Jiang Guang Zhang, aka Fat Brother.
Qiu and Zhang were charged with bribing a public official, and conspiracy to bribe a public official.
Qiu was previously charged in federal court with one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance (methamphetamine), and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Qiu’s trial is scheduled to begin on April 25, 2023. He is currently detained at the Saipan prison.
In a pending case in CNMI Superior Court, Zhang was charged with two counts of trafficking, and two counts of possession of a controlled substance.
According to the indictment issued on Feb. 2, 2023 against the three defendants, their case involved a conspiracy to smuggle a cellular phone with a charger into the Saipan prison for federal inmate Qiu in exchange for methamphetamine and $500 cash to be paid to Deleon Guerrero in January 2022.
Qiu solicited the assistance of Deleon Guerrero from inside the prison, and Deleon Guerrero relied upon his friend, “GG,” to coordinate with Qiu’s friend Zhang to facilitate the transaction, the indictment stated.
It added that GG allowed Deleon Guerrero to use GG’s phone to communicate with Zhang. GG also communicated with Zhang on behalf of Deleon Guerrero, the indictment stated.
“GG helped coordinate the location, time, and manner in which Zhang delivered a cellular phone, methamphetamine, and $500 cash” to Deleon Guerrero, the indictment stated.
After Zhang delivered methamphetamine and cash to Deleon Guerrero, “GG reaped the reward of facilitating the exchange by smoking some of the methamphetamine with…Deleon Guerrero,” the indictment added.
In January 2022, Deleon Guerrero took the cellular phone and the phone charger provided by Zhang, and delivered them to Qiu who was incarcerated at the Saipan prison, the indictment stated.
Initial hearing
The three defendants appeared before Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI for an initial hearing Tuesday.
Qiu was represented by attorney Robert Torres; Zhang, by attorney Joey McDoulett; and Delon Guerrero, by attorney Bruce Berline.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric O’Malley appeared for the federal government.
The defendants, through their lawyers, waived the reading of the charges and pled not guilty.
Judge Manglona then set the jury trial for April 11, 2023 at 10 a.m.
Qiu and Zhang were remanded to the custody of Corrections while Deleon Guerrero was released on his own recognizance with conditions.
The United States Courthouse in Gualo Rai, Saipan.
