United States v. James Santos

MEMORANDUM

Defendants Timothy Villagomez (“Villa-gomez”), James Santos (“Santos”) and Joa-quina Santos (“Mrs.Santos”) (collectively, “Defendants”) were charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, wire fraud, theft from a program receiving federal funds, and bribery concerning a program receiving federal funds. Villagomez was formerly the Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (“CNMI”), and Santos was formerly the Secretary of Commerce of the CNMI. Together with Mrs. Santos, Villagomez and Santos conspired to commit fraud in connection with CNMI’s purchase of a chemical solvent called Rydlyme from companies Santos and Mrs. Santos owned. On appeal, the Defendants contend that they were deprived of their right to a public trial when the public was excluded from the courtroom during voir dire. They also contend that the district court abused its discretion by denying their post-trial motion for an evidentiary hearing on their allegations of juror bias. The Government contends on cross-appeal that the district court erred in calculating Villagomez’s Sentencing Guidelines range. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm in…