HAGATNA, Guam – Jesse Mendiola Blas, a former mayor of Yona, Guam, was sentenced in U.S. District Courtroom to 37 months in jail for Extortion Underneath Coloration of Official Proper.
The case is the results of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Safety Investigations (HSI), the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
“Public corruption has far reaching results on the daily lives of everybody in society,” mentioned John F. Tobon, Particular Agent in Cost for HSI in Guam, Hawaii and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. “Figuring out acts of corruption, the proceeds of those acts and bringing these accountable to justice is a high precedence for HSI. We’ll proceed to work tirelessly with a purpose to root out corruption.”
Blas, 58, of Yona, was additionally ordered by the courtroom to a few years of supervision following his launch from jail, 100 hours of neighborhood service, a compulsory $100 particular evaluation payment and a forfeiture cash judgment of $11,700.
Starting in November 2018, Blas used his place as Mayor of Yona to simply accept money bribes from a confidential informant (CI), who posed as a drug trafficker to acquire United States Postal Service cluster field models (CBU). The CBUs are provided free to residents for the lawful receipt of mail. Blas agreed to supply a mailbox to the CI to allow drug traffickers to securely obtain packages of methamphetamine by way of the U.S. mail system.
Continuous entry to the mailbox was conditioned upon sharing proceeds from the drug packages with Blas. Throughout the scheme, he obtained $11,700 for using a single mailbox. Blas additionally provided to promote a second mailbox to the CI for $15,000 and to alter the assigned field every week to keep away from interception of the drug packages by legislation enforcement. When the CI stopped making funds, Blas requested for $8,000 extra and threatened to close down the mailbox. Blas was subsequently arrested in September 2019.
“We entrust our elected officers with the duty to behave in one of the best pursuits of the general public,” mentioned Shawn N. Anderson, U.S. Legal professional for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). “Neighborhood security is amongst their fundamental duties. This case uncovered a mayor performing in his personal self-interest to the potential detriment of a whole island. I commend the arduous work by our company companions that introduced Mr. Blas to justice. The sentence imposed by the Courtroom additional demonstrates that officers who have interaction in prison conduct can be held accountable.”
The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Legal professional for the Districts of Guam and the CNMI.