Guam targets Hills

Laguna Beach resident Howard Hills is facing additional charges in connection with a corruption case in Guam involving disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

The charges were added to the case in March, Hills acknowledged.

The complaint alleges that Hills acted to “avoid” established procurement procedures and obtain lobbying services from Abramoff on matters before the U.S. Congress.

Hills was originally indicted by the Superior Court of Guam in December 2006 on charges alleging he secretly funneled money to Abramoff on behalf of Anthony Sanchez, who was the administrative director of the superior court.

Hills, a lawyer and expert on U.S. territories, is accused of making 36 payments of $9,000 to Abramoff’s firm in Washington while Hills was working with the Guam courts.

Hills and Sanchez were originally co-defendants in the case, but they will be tried separately.

The new indictment with the additional charges came after Hills voluntarily turned over all his documents pertaining to the case, said Hills’ lawyer, Carol Elder Bruce.

Bruce said she doesn’t believe Hills was intentionally doing anything illegal, if doing anything illegal at all.

“It’s not true that Howard Hills had any part in misleading Congress,” Bruce said.

Bruce said Hills was never paid by the Guam court, nor was he paid by Abramoff. She said Hills was just trying to be compliant with what court officials asked of him.

“He was never paid by Abramoff, he never worked for Abramoff,” Bruce said.

Hills came forward with information about Abramoff when Abramoff was found guilty of corruption involving government officials, Bruce said.

Bruce said Hills has been and will continue to be compliant with all requests of Guam’s courts.

“We fully expect that Howard will cooperate fully with the government if he’s called as a witness,” Bruce said.

Hills declined to comment.

Hills is a native of Laguna Beach and graduated from Laguna Beach High School in 1970. He is vocal in school district issues.

Hills left to go to college and law school, then joined the Peace Corps and later served as a JAG officer in the U.S. Navy and worked for the State Department.

He returned to Laguna Beach with his family in 1999.