Ex-Housing Authority Employee Cops Guilty Plea To Pocketing Bribes While Peddling Eligibility For Section 8 Rent Subsidy Vouchers; Will Dodge Jail Time In Exchange For Agreement To Squeal On Co-Defendants

In Hagåtña, Guam, the Pacific Daily News reports:

• A woman accused of accepting bribes from Section 8 applicants in exchange for certifying or promising to certify those applicants for Section 8 eligibility pleaded guilty [] after taking a plea agreement.
  
  Antonia Mayo-San Nicolas initially faced a maximum three-year sentence and up to $55,000 in fines if her case went to trial. As part of the agreement, she will not face any prison time.(1)
  
  Mayo-San Nicolas is a former Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority employee.
  
  She pleaded guilty to three counts of accepting bribes as a third-degree felony with a special allegation of crimes against the community.
  
  Under the plea agreement Mayo-San Nicolas reached with the government, she agreed to cooperate with the Office of the Attorney General, including meeting with the office, talking with them about the case and possibly testifying at a trial against codefendants, Section 8 tenant Mattos Johnson and a landlord, Albert Buendicho.(2)

For more, see Former GHURA employee pleads guilty to accepting bribes.

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(1) As has been observed by at least one learned federal judge, referring to the 'race to the prosecutor's office' that frequently breaks out among co-defendants in an uncovered criminal conspiracy:

• "When a conspiracy is exposed by an arrest or execution of search warrants, soon-to-be defendants know that the first one to "belly up" and tell what he knows receives the best deal. The pressure is to bargain and bargain early, even if an indictment has not been filed." United States v. Moody, 206 F.3d 609, 617 (6th Cir. 2000) (Wiseman, J., concurring).

(2) Ibid.