Wife can’t see Aquino

WASHINGTON - Michael Ray Aquino arrested on Sept. 10 and charged with conspiracy is still in jail awaiting bail hearing, his wife and son unable to visit him.
Consul Maria Lourdes Legaspi of the Philippine Consulate General in New York said Aquino has asked her to intercede with prison officials to allow his wife, Fatima Ceniza Aquino and son to visit him.
They have been refused visitation rights because they have no identification papers to prove who they are, Legaspi told the Manila Mail. The passports of the family were confiscated by immigration authorities when Aquino was arrested last March for overstaying his visa, Legaspi told the Manila Mail.
Aquino is wanted for murder in the Philippines and fled to the United States in 2001.
Legaspi said Aquino, an aide of Sen. Panfilo Lacson, appeared to be in good health and did not look depressed when she visited him in jail on Sept. 20.
He was out on bail when he was arrested again along with Filipino-American Leandro Aragoncillo, an FBI intelligence analyst and former US Marine, for allegedly stealing “highly classified” material stored in computers at an FBI office.
Aragoncillo, 46, downloaded at least 100 classified or secret documents from the FBI computer systems between May and August and e-mailed them to officials in the Philippines for undisclosed amount of cash.
The two men have been charged with conspiracy to defraud the US government and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, charges which carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and $500,000 fine.
Legaspi said in addition to asking her to intercede on behalf of his wife and son, Aquino also asked her to make representation with prison officials to be allowed more time to exercise in the yard and to supply him with a rosary and some books.
She said Aquino did not refer to his case except in very general terms in their conversation.
Before appearing in court for a bail hearing, a defendant can normally expect to spend a “reasonable time” under detention which could run from a few days to a few weeks depending on the court calendar, the gravity of the crime and the schedules of lawyers, those familiar with such cases said.
When Aquino appeared before a US magistrate two days after his arrest he asked for a court appointed lawyer, usually an indication a defendant cannot afford his or her own counsel.
Mark Berman, director of defense of Gibbons, one of the largest law firms in New Jersey, was assigned to him.
Berman is described in the firm’s Web Site as “an experienced federal trial and appellate attorney” in complex civil and white-collar criminal litigation.
Berman did not return a call by the Manila Mail seeking comment on Aquino’s bail hearing.