CEBU CITY — Self-confessed drug lord Rolando “Kerwin” Espinosa Jr. was found guilty of violating the election gun ban in 2010 by Regional Trial Court Branch 23 Judge Generosa Labra on Monday here.
Kerwin Espinosa, however, was acquitted of the illegal possession of firearms case since his firearm was licensed at the time he was arrested here in Cebu City during the 2010 elections.
According to Espinosa’s counsel Atty. Jonnah John Ungab, the case was dismissed because the police officer who filed the case against his client failed to declare that Kerwin’s firearm was licensed.
On March 4, 2010, Espinosa was arrested for carrying a .45-caliber handgun and 12 live ammunition in a magazine during an election gun ban. He was sentenced to one-year imprisonment for violating Commission on Elections Resolution No. 8714.
Espinosa appeared during Monday’s promulgation escorted by National Bureau of Investigation agents from Manila, but refused to comment on the court’s decisions of his two cases.
Kerwin is currently under the Witness Protection Program of the Department of Justice.
After the promulgation, Espinosa’s lawyer Ungab was ambushed by unidentified gunmen outside the courthouse around 11:50 a.m. and died at the Chong Hua Hospital at 2 p.m. (Luel Galarpe/PNA)
