THE U.S. District Court for the NMI on Friday found former Workforce Investment Agency chief Felix R. Nogis guilty of littering at American Memorial Park’s baseball field.
Describing the act as a sign of “disrespect” to a memorial for war heroes, Senior Judge John C. Coughenour ordered Nogis to pay a $100 fine and a $25 court assessment fee.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric O’Malley, who prosecuted the one-and-a-half-hour bench trial, asked the court to penalize Nogis for a total of $4,700 in fines and 90-hour community work service, representing the man-hours spent to clean up the “large amount of trash” at the park and to resolve the matter in court.
O’Malley said it was “particularly disturbing” to see leaders of the community involved in breaking the law, instead of setting a good example.
The prosecution presented photographs of the large amount of trash and several abandoned green “Ben & Eloy” picnic tables left in the area on April 26, 2010.
The defense described the event as a “family gathering.”
In one of the photos, Nogis, wearing a baseball cap, is seen with Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, former Rep. Joseph Norita Camacho, and other Covenant Party supporters.
Camacho is the ruling party’s candidate for Congress and Nogis is his campaign manager.
Camacho and former Assistant Attorney General Michael Evangelista represented, pro-bono, Nogis, who declined to comment after the hearing.
Camacho said Nogis will pay the fine today, May 21.
The pictures presented by the prosecution were taken by the National Park Service rangers, and downloaded from the Facebook account of “Camacho for Congress,” which had over 100 photos.
“We will respect the court’s decision,” Camacho said in a prepared statement for the media.
“We presented our case that we were invited guests to a family gathering at Micro Beach and that it was not an official campaign activity and unfortunately the court did not find it in our favor. We will respect the court’s decision,” he added.
According to his statement, “U.S. Delegate Candidate Joseph Norita Camacho is committed to keeping the CNMI clean and beautiful. In fact, long before this unfortunate event there were beautification projects and cleanup events already scheduled to be carried out by the committee and supporters. Now that this is over, we can focus on the real work ahead.”
The prosecution witnesses were National Park Service Chief Ranger Bryan C. Piercy, Ranger Nancy A. Kelchner, maintenance supervisor Vicente C. Attao, and maintenance worker Manuel Muna.
The defense witnesses were Office of Carolinian Affairs Angelica W. Igineof-Mangarero, a cousin of Nogis; Manuel Camacho of the governor’s office; and Rita C. Chong-Dela Cruz, secretary of the Committee to Elect Camacho.
The rangers testified that on Monday morning, April 26, they found several green “Ben & Eloy” picnic tables and “a large amount of trash” that required close to two hours of cleaning.
The gathering, which was an event for more than 25 people, did not have a special permit.
The rangers said they were told by the governor’s Special Assistant for Administration Esther S. Fleming that Nogis reserved the picnic tables.
Defense witnesses said they did not see Nogis throwing refuse other than in the designated trash can.
