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It would be 2026 when defendants in the high-profile Pandemic Unemployment Assistance fraud case would be back in federal court, based on the outcome of Friday's status hearing. District Court of Guam Magistrate Judge Michael Bordallo gave the defendants, through their attorneys, more time to review nearly 1 million documents. Bordallo also proposed a trial date of either June 23, 2026 or Sept. 9, 2026. He ordered the attorneys to come back at 10 a.m. on Jan. 13, 2026 for another update. The judge said parties have come back three different times, but no motions are before him. "I don't think we have moved an inch," Bordallo said. The judge brought back the attorneys on Friday to discuss where they are at with the discovery and to try to get a firmer date for trial after pushing it back twice already. The seven defendants—Charissa M. Tenorio, Matthew Topasna, Frankie Rosalin, Tina Sanchez, Kathleen Peredo, Winnie Jo Santos, and Marlene Pinaula—are accused of receiving $492,063 in fraudulent PUA claims filed on behalf of multiple individuals between July 2020 and September 2021. Three of them are related to Lt. Gov. Josh Tenorio, including his sister and his partner. Only two of the seven defendants showed up for the Friday status and scheduling hearing—Pinaula and Peredo—both former employees of the Guam Department of Labor, which ran the PUA program. Attorneys for the other defendants requested waivers for their clients' appearance and the judge granted the requests. Attorneys for the defendants once again told the judge they continue to have difficulty going through all the documents. Some also said they are unable to open some of the files given to them. Some also said they need more guidance from the U.S. Attorney's Office on where in the discovery their clients are mentioned to help find relevant documents. Attorneys said they have been shifting through thousands of documents just to find the ones that pertain to their clients. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Petersburg said the feedback he's gotten from some defense counsel is they aren't able to open some of the files. He suggested having them sit down with agents that can assist them in opening the files. When asked if there was any more discovery, Petersburg said they are seeking some recordings from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They also have two laptops from Comfort Cuts, a business that Charissa Tenorio and Rosalin own, but Petersburg said the files in them are irrelevant to their case. He said the files from the laptops can be produced if requested, adding that there is about 1 terabyte and a half of data in them. Attorney Joseph Razanno, representing Santos, said he doesn't want to rely on the government to determine if the files on the laptops are relevant and asked they be given over. Back after 60 days Bordallo said he wants everyone to come back in January after 60 days and asked attorneys to give him specific issues that need to be addressed. He said he cannot keep getting broad statements from attorneys and wants concrete things the court can do to move the case along after the trial date has already been pushed back more than once. Attorney Peter Perez, representing Pinaula, said he won't be available for a June trial date, and there wouldn't be enough time to prepare with the volume of documents submitted. Bordallo responded that it would have been a year since the case was filed by then, and the court needed to move it forward. The judge said it may be that some attorneys won't be available in June or September and that would be as good as they can get. Bordallo said the trial will never be done if they continue to delay. 4-year investigation vs months to review Perez said attorneys got a "dump of documents" and he doesn't need to go through 900,000 pages if they don't pertain to his client. He said he would file a motion to get guidance from the government to narrow done the discovery. Bordallo responded that these are the kinds of things attorneys need to do so that the case can move. He noted the lack of motions filed on the matter, leading him to say the case has not moved an inch. Attorney Heather Quitugua, representing Rosalin, said the investigation was about four years and they are only given 60 more days to try to go through the documents. She said even if she devotes all her time, 24/7, to the case, she still wouldn't be able to finish going through all the documents in 60 days. Quitugua said it wouldn't be enough time to properly defend their clients. Bordallo reiterated the need for specifics from attorneys about the issues they are facing. While he understands there are a lot of documents to review, he said he needs attorneys to file things in writing to justify the court pushing back the trial again. When they come back in January, they should be able to state if they've only gone through 1% of the discovery, for example, he said. "We need to have an idea," Bordallo said. The judge wants attorneys to file by Jan. 7, 2026 and they will come back to court six days after that to discuss the matters. Tenorio's family Each of the seven PUA fraud ring case defendants faces nine counts of wire fraud, 18 counts of mail fraud, and one count of conspiracy. Charissa Tenorio, the lieutenant governor’s sister, also faces money laundering and two counts of witness tampering. Peredo and Pinaula face one count of federal program theft each, while Sanchez faces an additional witness tampering charge. Lt. Gov. Josh Tenorio, who is running for governor in 2026, is not charged with any crime. He has asserted that neither he nor Adelup is involved in the PUA case or investigation. The 2026 primary election is set for Aug. 1, while the general election is Nov. 3.
