It's like déjà vu, happening all over again as the Speaker of the 36th Guam Legislature Therese Terlaje is gearing up to meet with the judiciary for a second time on public corruption allegations


"The judiciary is acting as law enforcement in this matter and the marshals were acting as law enforcement and in that capacity absolutely yes they should be subject to oversight," she said.

In district court, there have been allegations of warrants vacated, drug defendants given clean slates all in exchange for monetary bribes.
We first heard these accusations during former Yona Mayor Jesse Blas' federal extortion case, and now it returns in the spotlight in federal drug defendant Mark Mayo's trial.

Speaker Terlaje held an oversight hearing with the judiciary following Blas' arraignment that occurred back in September 2019.

"At the time of course the chief justice had assured me that they have spoken with the FBI and that there was no one there under investigation and that they had completed their own internal investigation," she said.
"I think the conclusion was that either FBI was not pursuing anything there at the judiciary because none of the people involved were still there or I don't know the reason."

Blas was sentenced last month on extortion charges for permitting drug trade through village mailboxes. He has a long history as a public servant in local law enforcement, before becoming the mayor he was a superior court marshal and a police officer.

As stated in court it was the drug ring leader Lovelia Mendoza's connection to Blas that allowed the wiping of Mayo's warrants.
Another individual named in both district court cases was Joey Terlaje, who is a former department of corrections deputy director however he resigned a day after Blas' arraignment.

He was also a marshal at the Superior Court of Guam.


"But our oversight I wanted to make sure that even if they had found nothing at that time, that these types of allegations could not occur right and so what we found was that the more discretion that was given to individual marshals of what warrants they would pursue that day or execute that day that was a place where they could tighten their procedures on for less discretion or more checks and balances," Speaker Terlaje said.

The judiciary assured the legislature they would review their procedures and make necessary changes. Although another matter for review and catching the eye of the legislature are the honorable justices, she said.


"Some of these allegations make it sound like it's the judges are in on it, like the judges are the ones vacating warrants because only judges can vacate warrants, not marshals," she said.

During the playback recording brought into evidence from the FBI interrogation on Mayo, the federal authorities pressed the defendant on further allegations, questioning which "dirty" customs, probation, police officers and marshals he knew.

While no names were said, the legislature is keeping a close eye on the ports, which have recently been under scrutiny.

Speaker Terlaje notes that yesterday's oversight hearing with the Guam customs and quarantine raised similar red flags.


"Customs reported zero interceptions of drugs at the port in the last five years, zero," she said. "So what's your conclusion from that? Something is wrong, it's either wow there are no drugs coming in through the port or they are just not reported, or they are just not looking."

Speaker Terlaje is scheduled to meet with Chief Justice Philip Carbullido on Friday, Feb. 12.

The judiciary has since responded to KUAM's inquiry for an interview regarding the allegations with "To ensure the protection of the constitutional rights of those accused and preserve the integrity of our justice system and process, the Judiciary of Guam is not able to and will not comment on on-going or pending matters before the courts."v