by Mindy Aguon

Guam - Yigo resident Joseph Taitano claimed a victory today as Superior Court Judge Arthur Barcinas denied the government's motion for default judgment. The motion, if granted, would have awarded $250,000 in damages to the government and $3.6 million from Taitano and his wife, Rosalind.

GovGuam sued the couple for running an illegal dump operation on their property and had received notices of violations. The court found that Taitano failed to properly serve an answer to the civil complaint but noted that he did file a motion to dismiss. Judge Barcinas admonished the couple to read the rules with respect to court filings and civil proceedings. The parties will meet and come up with a scheduling order in the next few weeks.

Taitano has moved to dismiss the suit claiming he doesn't own the property and never made a single penny off illegal dumping that occurred there.