JURORS on Tuesday found former Chief of Parole Nick Reyes guilty of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office, conspiracy to commit theft by deception, and theft by deception. They also found his co-defendant, F&S Corporation owner Chuilian Fu, guilty of conspiracy to commit theft by deception, and theft by deception.
Both were immediately taken into custody by the CNMI Marshals.
Superior Court Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio said Reyes and Fu will be sentenced on July 22, 2025.
Reyes is represented by attorney Joaquin Torres, while Fu is represented by attorney Anthony Aguon.
Both lawyers told Variety that they will file post-trial motions that include a motion for acquittal, a motion for mistrial, and an appeal.
Assistant Attorneys General James Robert Kingman and David Karch (not Krach as earlier reported) prosecuted the case.
After the trial, Kingman thanked Judge Kim-Tenorio for overseeing the case.
“Especially in the past couple of weeks, it was complex, it was high profile, and she managed it with fairness and clarity, and consistency. I appreciate that,” Kingman said.
He also thanked the jurors. “These individuals in the community spent a couple of weeks sitting through long days of deliberations and presentation of evidence,” he said.
“I really hope this puts to bed the idea that people of the CNMI do not care about corruption, do not care about how public money is spent … because they do, and the attentiveness demonstrated by this jury shows they do regardless of the outcome … and this outcome does show that we need a full and thorough accounting of how public money was given out in the summer and fall of 2022. How easy that happened, and how important [it is] for us to understand what happened so we can put in safeguards to make sure it does not happen again,” Kingman said.
He added, “Mr. Fu and Mr. Reyes are not the causes of the problem in the CNMI, but they are the symptoms.”
The jury trial started on April 7, and jurors began their deliberations on April 15.
According to the information filed by the Office of the Attorney General in Superior Court, on or about Oct. 4, 2022, Reyes agreed with Fu “that one or both would engage in or solicit theft of property by deception, to wit, the construction of a patio at the Parole Office purported to be constructed by a tailoring company owned by Chuilian Fu’s F&S Corporation in the amount of $9,997.80, but actually constructed by uncompensated labor performed by parolees under the direction of…Reyes.”
The defendants have denied the charges.
Nick Reyes was taken into the custody of the CNMI Marshals after a jury found him guilty as charged on Tuesday afternoon.
F&S Corporation owner Chuilian Fu was taken into the custody of the CNMI Marshals after the jury’s verdict was announced.
Assistant Attorneys General James Robert Kingman, right, and David Karch prosecuted the case.
