After the prosecution rested its case, defense attorney David Banes called Sgt. Sylvan Rangamar and Officer Rogelio Celis to the witness stand.
Rangamar and Celis vouched for Leon Guerrero’s integrity as a detective.
When the Federal Bureau of Investigation placed Leon Guerrero on surveillance for asking bribe money from illegal taxicab drivers from June to Oct. 2009, Rangamar was the officer-in-charge of the Department of Public Safety’s Criminal Investigation Bureau. Celis, for his part, is also a detective.
The defense said Leon Guerrero was actually investigating the operation of illegal taxis on island operated by Stocklots Saipan Inc. which had a CNMI-issued business license. A certain “Ivan” was behind the company, Banes said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric O’Malley, the prosecutor, yesterday presented the government’s cooperating witness.
The cooperating witness who was arrested by Leon Guerrero for operating an illegal taxicab and later became the conduit for the second cooperating witness, confirmed bribing Leon Guerrero.
The prosecution yesterday played some audio recordings between the cooperating witness and Leon Guerrero.
On Oct. 5, Leon Guerrero was recorded as telling the cooperating witness over the phone, “You guys are so cheap,” after the cooperating witness asked the detective to accept an amount less than $300.
On Oct. 7, Leon Guerrero told the cooperating witness to at least give a “partial” payment on that day.
“Go out and loan whatever you can,” Leon Guerrero told the cooperating witness over the phone when the latter told him they could not produce the money right away.
During Banes’ cross examination, the cooperating witness said his only concern was to recover his impounded vehicle from DPS.
Banes asked the cooperating witness why he turned to the Federal Bureau of Investigation when he was Leon Guerrero’s cooperating source in the detective’s ongoing investigation of illegal taxicab operation on island.
Banes said the cooperating witness was trying to “throw off” Leon Guerrero’s ongoing investigation so that the illegal taxicab operation would continue and the cooperating witness would avoid deportation.
But this was denied by the cooperating witness.
The defense said the cooperating witness has been ordered deported from the CNMI after his work permit as a garment factory worker expired years ago.
Rangamar, then the commanding officer of Leon Guerrero, testified that the detective had an operational plan against Stocklots Saipan Inc. which Rangamar approved.
Rangamar said Leon Guerrero had “absolute discretion” in the investigation of cases.
Rangamar said he was aware of the sting operation but he could not recall if Leon Guerrero told him about the bribery attempt of the cooperating witness.
