Former President Hipolito Mejia has been summoned to testify in the libel case placed by former Supervisor of Public Works, the current senator for Duarte province Hernani Salazar against lawyer Marino Vincho Castillo. The case will be heard on 12 May. The judge has also summoned former Colonel Pedro Julio (Pepe) Goico to face questions by district attorney prosecutor Jose Manuel Hernandez Peguero on Tuesday, after Castillo requested that the latter’s possible ties with former army captain and accused drug smuggler Quirino Paulino Castillo be investigated.
Goico lives in Spain. Goico was in charge of President Hipolito Mejia’s advance security team. His presence is requested to explain what he knows about the sale of a Colibri helicopter bought with a Baninter credit card issued for presidential expenses that was later sold to Quirino Paulino Castillo, who is currently in jail in the US awaiting trial for a major drug smuggling case.
Others summoned in the case include former Armed Forces chief of staff, retired Major General Jose Miguel Soto Jimenez; Sergio Grullon, Mejia’s brother in law; former Minister of Sports Cesar Cedeno; former chief of the Air Force, retired General Virgilio Sierra Perez; and the then president of the Dominican Olympic Committee Joaquin Puello Herrera.