In the very fresh case of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. MICHAEL RAY AQUINO, Case No. 07-3202, which was decided in February 2009, the US Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit vacated the judgment of sentence against Michael Ray Aquino and remanded the same for resentencing.
A former trusted hatchet man of former national police chief and now senator Panfilo Lacson, Michael Ray Aquino, who is a Philippine national, received classified documents relating to the national defense of the United States from a source with access to a restricted government database.
He was indicted, and pled guilty to the unauthorized possession and willful retention of two classified documents relating to the national defense pursuant.
Aquino arrived in the United States in 2001 on a non¬immigrant visa that had expired. He was formerly a high-ranking officer in the Philippine National Police (PNP) and came to this country ostensibly to escape the threat of prosecution for several violent acts he allegedly committed during his PNP tenure. He has maintained strong ties to several political opposition leaders in the Philippines.
In 2002, he became acquainted with Leandro Aragoncillo, a Philippine emigree and naturalized United States citizen, who, as a former Marine, had been assigned to work in the Office of the Vice President of the United States. Later, Aragoncillo became an intelligence analyst with the FBI at the Fort Monmouth Information Technology Center.
In late 2004 and throughout 2005, Aragoncillo forwarded to a number of current and former Philippine officials, including Aquino, classified and/or sensitive information pertaining to the current Philippine regime, United States military strategy and training methods, and ongoing criminal investigations.
On September 10, 2005, the government executed search and arrest warrants at the homes of both Aquino and Aragoncillo, and seized computers and documents. Aquino was initially indicted on two charges: conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371; and acting as a foreign agent (Count Two) in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 951 and 2.
The government agreed to dismiss the Indictment in exchange for Aquino’s plea to a lesser charge under 18 U.S.C. § 793(e), which prohibits, inter alia, the willful transmission, communication, or retention of documents relating to the national defense of the United States by an unauthorized possessor.
At the plea hearing, Aquino pled guilty to the possession of the identified documents, documents he knew were classified and had reason to believe could be used to injure the United States or aid a foreign government. He further acknowledged that he willfully and knowingly retained and failed to deliver these documents to the officer and/or employee of the United States entitled to receive them.
The trial court sentenced Aquino to 76 months imprisonment.
On appeal, the US Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit vacated the judgment of sentence against Aquino and remanded the same for resentencing.
The unraveling of the inevitable effects of the universal law of karma continues.
