The Level of Corruption
The "Risk Assessment Report for United States Attorney's Offices District of Guam and District of the Northern Mariana Islands" was prepared by R.G. Meissner, a regional security specialist with the U.S. Attorney's Office East District of Virginia.

The April 25, 2002 report was prepared at the request of then-U.S. Attorney for the Districts of Guam and CNMI, Frederick Black.

Both districts were visited during January to February 2002.

Federal law enforcement officials and a variety of military and territorial officials were consulted, according to Meissner. Previously compiled documents, surveys, reports, newspaper articles and other information pertaining to security-related actions also were reviewed.

Particular attention was devoted to the comments of federal officials and official reports of the Department of Interior, the U.S. Coast Guard and other government agencies.

The following are excerpts from the report:

'Fully documented'

"The lack of federal jurisdiction over immigration, customs and financial matters coupled with a long history of deliberate territorial indifference to corrective action, creates an atmosphere which fosters criminal activity and public corruption, prevents federal authorities from achieving optimum effectiveness in their enforcement of U.S. law, and produces critical security obstacles for federal agencies.

                                                    Pacific Daily News file photo
Convicted: Former Guam Parks and Recreation Director A.J. "Sonny" Shelton arrives with his family at the U.S. District Court of Guam for his resentencing March 31, 2005. Shelton is in federal prison for abusing FEMA funds. Under then-acting U.S. Attorney Frederick Black's watch between 2001 and 2002, several officials under the Gutierrez administration were indicted in federal court in corruption-related cases. Investigations started under Black's watch have led to the conviction of six former Gutierrez administration officials, including Shelton.

"The existence and origins of these problems have been fully documented by federal offices over a long period and are a matter of public record; as are the failures of local governments to improve the situation.

"The present environment produces its own threats and vulnerabilities and is currently being exploited by transnational criminal organizations and possibly by terrorist groups. All present an immediate danger to personnel, operations and assets of the U.S. Attorney's office and those of other federal agencies."

'Constant detriment'

"The level of corruption, lack of capability and influence of insular and cultural considerations inherent in both territorial governments, present a constant detriment to U.S. Attorney office operations and its associated "team" members.

"Territorial corruption occupies a major portion of the prosecutorial effort of the U.S. Attorney's office and investigative agencies. A past governor, and other senior Cabinet officials have been successfully prosecuted for financial corruption and other matters. This trend continues to the present.

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