Recently-unsealed court documents in the Julian Weymouth federal cryptocurrency case reveal high ranking officers of the Guam Police Department and the Guam Fire Department are asking the court to release millions of dollars in Bitcoin they invested through Mr. Weymouth.
The now-convicted Latte Heights resident agreed to the forfeiture of millions of dollars in assets, most of which was in Bitcoin, to the federal government when he pleaded guilty to several crimes from his 2022 indictment for financial crimes, including the laundering of proceeds he knew to be from illegal gambling.
He is serving a 30-month sentence in a federal penitentiary.
Retired GPD officer Cecil D. Sulla, in a March 29, 2024 handwritten petition to the clerk of the U.S. District Court of Guam, made a claim for 40.3 Bitcoin forfeited in the Weymouth case, claiming to be a victim of the former cryptocurrency dealer.
The letter does not state when Mr. Sulla purchased the Bitcoin, however, according to a federal application for a search warrant of Mr. Weymouth’s electronic devices, Weymouth began his financial activities as early as 2018. Between 2018 and 2021, the price of Bitcoin increased from about $17,000 a Bitcoin to $64,000.
As of today, Bitcoin is valued at $66,200. This means Mr. Sulla’s Bitcoins are worth $2.67 million.
He retired from the GPD two months prior to the indictment of Mr. Weymouth, according to records from the Government of Guam Retirement Fund. This also happened well into the federal investigation, which included the use of confidential informants that began and coincided with news of federal raids into several local law enforcement officers allegedly involved in illegal gambling activities.
“Weymouth solicited funds and cryptocurrency from individuals he knew to be involved in illegal activity and accepted funds and cryptocurrency for transmission that he knew to be the proceeds of illegal activity,” the Weymouth plea agreement states.
The phone number listed for Mr. Sulla no longer is in operation.
Department of Administration human resources administrator Shane Ngata revealed that Mr. Sulla’s last known salary at the GPD was $100,245 a year. No further information about the transactions are made part of any publicly-available federal court document.
Local land tax records, however, show that prior to 2022 Mr. Sulla did not own any properties in Guam. In 2022, however, records show his ownership of six land parcels in Agat, three of which have homes on them. The total assessed value according to the Department of Revenue and Taxation, which publishes the assessment, is $739,321 in 2022 dollars.
The Weymouth docket also has a petition from Edward C. Artero II asking for the return of Bitcoin he claims to own. According to Mr. Artero’s petition, he invested a total of $8,000 through Mr. Weymouth between January and March 2021, and that the total Bitcoin he owned through the Weymouth investment was 0.255 Bitcoin. The value of that Bitcoin today is $16,881.
Mr. Artero is a senior firefighter with the GFD.
No other claims against the forfeiture involving GPD and GFD officers are publicly available in the case.
