Wiseman also directed the Attorney General’s Office to respond to the motion filed by defense counsel Joseph James Norita Camacho to withdraw the guilty plea of his client, Angel Jess Santos, 21.
Assistant Attorney General Brian Gallagher represented the government, according to Chief Prosecutor Michael Ernest.
Gallagher was the lead prosecutor in the case before he was promoted to head the AGO’s civil division.
Wiseman scheduled a motion hearing for May 24.
Gallagher recommended a 30-year jail term for Santos, all suspended except for the first 18 years.
“Defendant shall serve the full 15 years in prison, without the possibility of parole,” Gallagher stated in his sentencing brief filed in Superior Court.
Wiseman said Santos has been adjudicated guilty of conspiracy to commit sexual assault on Oct. 7, 2010.
On Dec. 29, 2010, Wiseman granted the motion to dismiss without prejudice the charges of kidnapping and raping a minor last June filed against Alfred P. Hocog, 18; Ivan Jones Castro, 33; and Joseph Cabrera Camacho Jr., 31, as moved by the prosecution.
They have denied the charges.
The AGO said it moved for the dismissal of the charges “due to newly discovered evidence that requires further evaluation” by the government.
In his motion to withdraw Santos’ guilty plea and set the matter for jury trial, Camacho said his client’s plea agreement was pursuant to Rule 11 (e) (1) (C) of the Commonwealth Rules of Criminal Procedure “which does not prohibit a defendant from withdrawing his plea.”
Camacho said in Jan. 2011, the AGO requested three months to re-file charges against three other defendants involved in the case.
Camacho said his client “consented to postponing his sentencing based on the Office of the Attorney General’s representation that new charges will be re-filed against the three other suspects. Pursuant to the plea agreement, [the defendant] was ready and willing to testify against the three other suspects.”
Three months later, Camacho said the AGO “has yet to file any formal charges against the three other suspects.”
Camacho stated in his motion that the AGO indicated that it has five jury trials in the next five weeks and “are unable to fully devote the time to this case, a case involving the alleged rape and kidnapping of a minor female in Kagman.”
Camacho told the court that the matter has been discussed with his client who has been advised regarding the legal consequences of Santos’ decision to withdraw his plea.
“Angel Jess Santos’ plea agreement caps the jail term to as low as 10 years and as high as 20 years,” stated Camacho.
He said his client has been advised that the sentence for sexual assault in the first degree carries a jail term of mandatory eight years with a maximum sentence of 30 years, and the sentence for kidnapping involving injuries carries a jail term of lime in prison.
In a statement signed on Monday, Angel Jess Santos said, “After three months, I do not think the Office of the Attorney General will re-file the charges against the three other suspects. I do not think the plea agreement which contemplates my cooperation and testimony against the three other suspects will be fully considered because of the failure of the Office of the Attorney General to bring the charges against the three other suspects. I believe that the three other suspects were the most culpable and did the most damage and harm to the victim yet the Office of the Attorney General has not moved forward on re-filing the charges against the three other suspects. For the reasons above, I choose to withdraw my plea and set this case for jury trial.”
