Jesse Blas requests early release from prison guampdn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from guampdn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The former mayor of Yona mayor was sentenced Thursday to a little more than three years in federal prison, with credit for the past 15 months he’s been detained.
Jesse Mendiola Blas pleaded guilty to one count of extortion under color of official right. He was indicted on six counts of extortion and seven counts of Travel Act bribery and sentenced to 37 months in prison.
Depending on what the court decided was an accurate amount of bribes paid to Blas, he faced a different range of possible prison time.
According to the prosecution, Blas faced 30 to 37 months in prison. Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Sambataro stated Blas received $11,700 from an informant during the investigation, which is above the $6,500 threshold that triggers a more severe punishment.
On Tuesday, Razzano replayed some of the videos and questioned Kinian about the money.
In one video from December 2018, Razzano asked her when she gave the money to Blas because he didn’t see it in the recording.
Kinian replied that she gave Blas the money, Blas took it and, behind the table, put it in his pocket.
Later in his questioning, Razzano had Kinian count 50 $1 bills and hold them up to demonstrate what 50 folded up bills looked like. According to Razzano, the money exchanged in one video did not appear to be $5,000 as Kinian testified.
Kinian also reviewed another video and said during that meeting in January 2019, she gave Blas $4,000. Razzano replayed the video and asked her what number Blas said after she was heard telling Blas to count it. Kinian said she couldn’t really hear what was said.
After three days of witness testimony from the government s confidential informant Brenda Kinian, the District Court is making arrangements to extend former Yona mayor Jesse Mendiola Blas sentencing.