By Bryan Manabat
bryan@mvariety.com
Variety News Staff
IN separate motions, the Office of the Attorney General and the Public Defender’s Office have asked the Superior Court to accept a plea agreement for 79-year-old Moses P. Cabrera, who is accused of killing his brother.
Cabrera was originally charged with second-degree murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and aggravated assault and battery. The murder charge carried a possible life sentence, while the remaining charges were each punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Prosecutors later amended the charge to a single count of voluntary manslaughter, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.
At a hearing on Aug. 20, Judge Joseph N. Camacho directed both parties to submit a supplemental memorandum supporting the plea agreement by Oct. 3 and scheduled a hearing for Oct. 15 at 10 a.m.
Both sides are recommending a sentence of 10 years, with six years to serve.
Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds argued in his filing that the sentence is appropriate given Cabrera’s lack of criminal history.
“The defendant has no criminal history. A six-year sentence is reasonable in this case, in light of the defendant’s lack of criminal history,” Hinds wrote. “This was an act of family violence — an argument between brothers. The defendant’s history shows that this sentence will have a deterrent effect… Furthermore, the defendant will not be released until he is 84 years old.”
Hinds added that Cabrera’s willingness to accept responsibility spared the family from a difficult and emotional trial.
Chief Public Defender Douglas Hartig also urged the court to accept the plea deal.
“The single charge in this case is voluntary manslaughter, with a range of punishments of up to ten years in prison,” Hartig wrote. “The parties have agreed to a cap of six years to serve. That is fully 60 percent of the maximum sentence allowed by law. The defendant has no criminal record… It is hard to see a justification for a first-time felon who has taken responsibility…receiving more than 60 percent of the maximum allowable punishment.”
Hartig added that Cabrera is remorseful and elderly and described the incident as “a single digression.”
According to the amended information, “On or about August 1, 2024, on Saipan… Moses P. Cabrera unlawfully killed Pedro Pangelinan Cabrera with malice aforethought, to wit: Defendant struck Pedro Pangelinan Cabrera several times with a hammer, causing death in violation of 6CMC 1101(a), and made punishable by 6CMC 1101(c)(2).”
Police said Cabrera admitted to striking his 71-year-old brother in the head with a hammer and later dumping the body on the southern side of the fishing base in Garapan.
In a voluntary statement to Police Lt. Catherine Pangelinan, Cabrera said the incident followed a heated dispute over family land that escalated into a physical altercation. Cabrera claimed his brother had threatened to stab him.
According to news files, Pedro Pangelinan Cabrera was convicted for the second-degree murder of a police officer in 1984. In 2000, while on parole, he was charged with kidnapping, rape of a minor and assault with a dangerous weapon.
