Greg Cruz, Taotao Tano’s leader, said the governor’s decision is sending the wrong message to the local community.
“How would those investigators feel knowing that all their investigative work resulting in a conviction on labor fraud was thrown out in the backdoor [for a] known Covenant Party constituent?” said Cruz in an e-mail to government officials and the media.
Press Secretary Charles Reyes Jr. said the 90-day jail sentence of Teresita Deleon Guerrero was commuted but she wasn’t pardoned.
“There was a commutation of sentence. This was based on Article 3, Section 9 of the CNMI Constitution. She wasn’t pardoned. Her record will stay,” he said in a phone interview.
Deleon Guerrero’s husband, Lorenzo, used to work for the Department of Labor.
Last year, authorities charged the couple and six others for manufacturing fake documents to support the labor applications of foreigners wishing to legalize their stay in the CNMI.
They were processing the labor permits through the firm ALT International Corp. where Mrs. Deleon Guerrero held the position of president/secretary.
Superior Court Associate Judge David Wiseman sentenced Mrs. Deleon Guerrero to one year imprisonment, all suspended except for 90 days, for one count of document fraud.
She was ordered to start serving her jail term at the Department of Corrections on March 25.
However, reports reaching Cruz indicated that she was released the next day.
Cruz said the case tainted anew the CNMI’s image among federal authorities.
“This case gave our homeland another black eye in terms of labor and immigration and corruption,” Cruz said.
The government should keep its word and impose the strongest possible punishment on any misconduct in public office, he added.
