Jimenez willing to face raps in United States?

Negotiations are ongoing for a plea bargain of Manila Rep. Mark Jimenez on the criminal charges he is facing in the United States, his lawyer told the Supreme Court yesterday.

"The negotiation is still ongoing. But Jimenez’s lawyers in the US have not yet finalized the plea bargain agreement. But inevitably, we have to," Mario Bautista told the 15 justices in a near three-hour open court hearing.

Bautista, answering a query posed by Justice Artemio Panganiban, said the former crony of jailed ex-President Estrada, represented by American-lawyer Kenneth Star, initially agreed to be in the US on July 28. Starr was the independent prosecutor who pressed sex-related charges against former US President Bill Clinton last year.

"But Michael Savage of the US-DOJ declined this offer and said that Jimenez should immediately be detained and deported to the US. And I said that was very arrogant of him," Bautista said.

Jimenez is a fugitive in the US where he is facing charges of tax evasion, mail fraud, and unlawful contribution to the 1996 election campaign of Clinton and Vice President Al Gore.

Bautista stressed that the only condition Jimenez asked for was the suspension of the extradition proceedings, because he was to attend the July 23 SONA and that he wanted to be the in Philippines for the distribution of committee chairmanships in Congress.

Nevertheless, he manifested that his "deepest prayer" was for Jimenez’s cases to be settled in the "near future," although their primary fear is that the Americans might not allow the lawmaker to come back.

Justice Undersecretary Merceditas Gutierrez reiterated to the High Court that Jimenez is not entitled to bail, saying that like most extraditees, he is another "flight risk," having fled the US in 1998 to evade prosecution.

Some of the justices opined, however, that Jimenez may fall under the exceptions to the rule because there are "special circumstances" attached to his person, one of them is his being a member of the House of Representatives. – Delon Porcalla