US court allows Michael Ray Aquino to question Estrada

WASHINGTON — A US court has allowed the lawyer of cashiered police superintendent Michael Ray Aquino, accused of conspiracy and espionage, to question former President Joseph Estrada, Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Camarines Sur Rep. Arnulfo Fuentebella.

Defense lawyer Mark Berman said US district judge William Walls, in a ruling in New Jersey on Thursday, agreed to a defense request to secure the deposition of the three men on videotape and play it before a grand jury.

Berman had sought the court’s permission to depose the trio saying it was critical to the defense of his client and also because they were "unlikely to voluntarily travel to the United States."

The prosecution had opposed the deposition as unnecessary alleging it had no bearing on the case.

Berman said he hopes to leave for Manila after arrangements are made by the US embassy there for the depositions to be taken.

"It should be an interesting visit," he told The STAR.

Aquino, a close Lacson aide, is accused of conspiring with a former FBI intelligence analyst, Filipino-American Leandro Aragoncillo, in passing classified information to political opposition leaders in the Philippines.

Aragoncillo, a former US Marine who worked in the office of Vice Presidents Al Gore and Dick Cheney, said he sent classified documents to senior political and government officials in the Philippines in an attempt to destabilize and overthrow President Arroyo.

Aragoncillo had specifically identified Aquino as a co-conspirator in the transfer of classified documents and information. He pleaded guilty to four counts of an indictment returned on May 4 by a federal grand jury.

Two of the four counts charged him with conspiracy to transmit and actually transmitting national defense documents both of which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The remaining counts charge Aragoncillo with unlawful retention of national defense information and with unlawful use of a government computer, both of which carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 14.

Although Aragoncillo did not mention the names of his alleged contacts in Manila during his indictment, federal prosecutors identified them as Estrada, Lacson and Fuentebella.

Each has denied any wrongdoing.

Aquino left Manila for the United States in 2001 after charges were filed against him in connection with the murder of public relations practitioner Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in November of 2000.

He was indicted last October on one count of conspiracy which carries a jail sentence of up to five years, and one count of acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign official, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

Aquino has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

He has been held in a New Jersey federal facility since Sept. 10, 2005. He has been deemed a flight risk and denied bail.

No date has yet been set for his trial.