Uncangco pleads not guilty again in same case | News

For the third time, David Quichocho Uncangco Jr. has pleaded not guilty to the same charges against him that were dismissed in April of this year.

Uncangco appeared for his arraignment Thursday before Superior Court Judge Johnathan Quan, this time with another person named on a superseding indictment.

He pleaded not guilty and asserted his right to a speedy trial, just as he did the first time he was charged and arrested in April 2024.

Uncangco is charged with two counts of retail theft as a second-degree felony and possession of a Schedule II controlled substance as a third-degree felony.

He was accused of leaving the AA Pawnshop in Dededo on March 22, 2024, with a gold coin worth $3,340, without paying for it.

On April 5, 2024, the police went to Vince Jewelers in East Hagåtña. They encountered an employee who said a man later identified as Uncangco had fled the store with $24,290 worth of jewelry.

Police located Uncangco and his vehicle the same day and allegedly found drugs and drug paraphernalia. Officers also located a string of golden bahts. His passenger, Frances Janet Sahagon Cruz, did not face any charges in April, but by August she was part of Uncangco’s replacement case. She was also indicted on Thursday.

The April case was later dismissed because the attorney general’s office filed a motion to dismiss the charges the day before the trial began in Judge Maria T. Cenzon’s court. The attorney general’s office issued a statement saying witnesses critical to the case were unavailable, although the court later learned that was not the case.

Uncangco’s defense attorney, Peter J. Santos, filed a motion to dismiss the case with prejudice, meaning the government would not be able to bring the same charges against Uncangco, but in the meantime Cenzon’s decision to dismiss the case, the AG’s office indicted Uncangco. again, then issued a superseding indictment that included Cruz.

Santos told Quan that if Cenzon grants his request to dismiss with prejudice, “this case could go away completely.”

The judge took the information under advisement and proceeded to charge him.

It didn’t take long for the two to make headlines again. Three weeks after the case was closed, Uncangco and Cruz were arrested on suspicion of the murder of Joshua Taitague. Taitague’s body was found in the middle of a road in Talo’fo’fo’ in early July.

Santos said a hearing in Cenzon’s courtroom was scheduled for the end of the month.

Pacific Daily News reporter Jojo Santo Tomas covers all the news stories, including sports. Email him at [email protected].