His counsel Leilani V. Lujan said “any hearing on the matter would be an exercise in futility because of the court’s explicit disposition to again deny Villagomez’s request for release pending appeal.”
Villagomez’s motion for release pending appeal was filed before the sentencing on Aug. 5.
It was denied by U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Judge Alex R. Munson.
The defense informed the court that it would file a motion again for release pending appeal and asked for a hearing to be set either on Aug. 14 or after Sept. 1.
Lujan said the court informed the defense that it would “permit us at that moment to renew our previously filed motion for release pending appeal which the court already denied, and that it would consider the said renewed motion filed on Aug. 5.”
She added, “The court also informed defense that it would hear argument on the said renewed motion and that it would deny the said renewed motion on the grounds the court stated in its order denying the previous motion for release pending appeal.”
She said without conducting a hearing, the court further informed the defense that though the court may have believed at one point that the issues presented in the defense’s motion for a new trial were fairly debatable, its research surrounding the defense’s motion for a new trial convinced the court otherwise.
On Aug. 5, Villagomez was sentenced to an 87-month jail term for conspiring to defraud the US. government thousands of dollars.
Villagomez’s co-defendants former Commerce Secretary James Santos and his wife Joaquina V. Santos were sentenced to 78 months imprisonment.
