By Troy Torres
Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent Rafael Fernandez confirmed in open court that Brenda Kinian is a witness in another federal criminal case.
"She does have some Grand Jury testimony to give in another case," Mr. Fernandez told federal court Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood.
The remarks were part of the ongoing sentencing hearing against former Yona mayor Jesse Blas, and made during a lengthy discussion about Ms. Kinian's safety.
The witness has been under federal protective custody since she agreed to cooperate with the federal government against Mr. Blas.
Mr. Fernandez previously has testified in federal court in the Blas case that an investigation is underway into public and police corruption involving Guam law enforcement and others. Ms. Kinian is the star witness in the Blas case, which involved extortion, conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, and public and police corruption. Until today, the Blas case was the only one the public was made aware she was involved in.
Kandit previously reported the changed trajectory of the drug distribution and public corruption case involving former police officer John "Boom" Mantanona, and how Mr. Mantanona likely has plead out in that case. The information leading to Mr. Mantanona's arrest was provided, in part, by Eric Aponik in his agreement to cooperate with the federal government against other drug dealers and, more importantly, public and police officials involved in the drug trade.
Recently-unsealed federal court documents in the Aponik case show the initials of four targets of federal investigation, whom the government believes are involved in public and police corruption that has shielded drug traffickers from facing the justice system. Two sets of those initials appear in the federal court record in the case against Cynthia Paulino, who recently was sentenced to serve nearly six years in jail for her role in a drug conspiracy.
Several elements of the Mantanona and Blas cases mirror the publicly-released details in the Paulino case. She, too, was under federal protective custody.
Ms. Kinian remains in federal protective custody, and according to the prosecution her life continues to be in danger even while Mr. Blas is in jail and will be sentenced within days.
The federal government provided no further information about the Grand Jury proceedings Ms. Kinian will testify before, or who the target of that separate investigation is. The FBI enlisted her as a confidential human source in the Blas case. The government has not said where else she has been used as a confidential source.
One of Mr. Blas's victims, Vickilyn Manglona, told Kandit News Wednesday that she witnessed corruption among the ranks of local law enforcement officers, especially Guam marshals. She said Blas's 'pare' used his power to jail her illegally while Blas was in the Philippines. She did not name this man, or where he worked at the time.
Ms. Manglona would not confirm whether she, too, is a confidential source of information for the federal government, or whether she will be testifying in any upcoming federal cases. Like Ms. Kinian, she no longer lives on Guam.
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