Federal jury convicts Northern Mariana Islands official in corruption case

Northern Mariana Islands official convicted

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands — The lieutenant governor of the Northern Mariana Islands has been convicted of theft, wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the federal government.

A jury in the U.S. commonwealth in the western Pacific convicted Lt. Gov. Timothy Villagomez on Friday along with his sister and her husband.

They were accused of cheating the federal government out of tens of thousands of dollars through a scheme involving an unnecessary chemical sold to a quasi-government utility company.

The lieutenant governor’s attorney says the transactions were aboveboard and there was no proof Villagomez manipulated the system.

The three will be sentenced July 28.

The Northern Mariana Islands are about 3,800 miles southwest of Hawaii.