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Ricardo Jerome “Ricky” Bordallo

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Ricardo Jerome “Ricky” Bordallo

Birth
Guam
Death
31 Jan 1990 (aged 62)
Guam
Burial
Hagatna (Agana), Guam Add to Map
Plot
St. Michael 19 3
Memorial ID
View Source
Ricardo Jerome Bordallo (December 11, 1927 – January 31, 1990), also known as Ricardo J. Bordallo or Ricky Bordallo, was a Guamanian politician, businessman, and member of the Democratic Party. He served as Governor of Guam from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1987.

Ricardo Jerome Bordallo was born in Hagåtña, Guam. He was the son of Baltazar Jeronimo Bordallo (August 8, 1900 – May 1984) and his mother Josefina Torres Pangelinan. He was the first child of a family including his brother Paul Joseph Bordallo (1930–2007), who was a former senator. BJ Bordallo was a popular politician from the 1930s to 1950s. Ricardo Bordallo attended the University of San Francisco before returning to Guam and becoming a successful businessman and car dealer. Among other positions, he was the proprietor of "Ricky's Suburban Club," a restaurant and bar in Tamuning, Guam. Bordallo also established as "Ricky's Auto Company" in the mid 50's and became Toyota's first American dealer car.

He was married to Madeleine Zeien Bordallo in 1953; together they have one daughter Deborah, and one grandchild, Nicole Nelson. Bordallo's widow was an unsuccessful cadidate for governor in 1990, and served as Lieutenant Governor of Guam from 1995 to 2003, and as the island's Delegate to the United States House of Representatives since 2003.

Criminal conviction

In February 1987, Bordallo was convicted on ten counts of corruption and was sentenced to nine years in prison and fined more than $100,000. He was accused of receiving over $100,000 worth of bribes and extortion in connection with favors he performed in office for campaign contributions. His convictions on eight counts of bribery and extortion were overturned in August, 1988, leaving charges of obstruction of justice and witness tampering. On December 13, 1989, he was sentenced to four years in prison on the remaining charges.

Suicide

After his failed appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, Bordallo faced a four-year sentence in a federal minimum-security prison beginning on February 1, 1990. Three hours before he was scheduled to be transferred to a prison in Boron, California on January 31, 1990, the former Governor committed suicide in Hagåtña by wrapping himself in a Guam flag, chaining himself to statue of Chief Kepuha (also Quipuha, Guam's first native chief to convert to Roman Catholicism) located along Marine Corps Drive (the island's primary thoroughfare), and shooting himself in the head with a .38 caliber pistol. He had also set up four placards around the monument, one of which said: "I regret that I only have one life to give to my island," an altered quote by Nathan Hale.

Bordallo died of massive brain damage at 4:28 P.M. at Naval Hospital, aged 62. He was buried at Pigo Cemetery in western Hagåtña.
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Death and funeral announcement as it appeared in the Pacific Daily News (Hagåtña, Guam) on February 7, 1990, on page 33.

News photo as it appeared in the Marianas Variety (Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands) on February 9, 1990, on page 1.
Ricardo Jerome Bordallo (December 11, 1927 – January 31, 1990), also known as Ricardo J. Bordallo or Ricky Bordallo, was a Guamanian politician, businessman, and member of the Democratic Party. He served as Governor of Guam from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1987.

Ricardo Jerome Bordallo was born in Hagåtña, Guam. He was the son of Baltazar Jeronimo Bordallo (August 8, 1900 – May 1984) and his mother Josefina Torres Pangelinan. He was the first child of a family including his brother Paul Joseph Bordallo (1930–2007), who was a former senator. BJ Bordallo was a popular politician from the 1930s to 1950s. Ricardo Bordallo attended the University of San Francisco before returning to Guam and becoming a successful businessman and car dealer. Among other positions, he was the proprietor of "Ricky's Suburban Club," a restaurant and bar in Tamuning, Guam. Bordallo also established as "Ricky's Auto Company" in the mid 50's and became Toyota's first American dealer car.

He was married to Madeleine Zeien Bordallo in 1953; together they have one daughter Deborah, and one grandchild, Nicole Nelson. Bordallo's widow was an unsuccessful cadidate for governor in 1990, and served as Lieutenant Governor of Guam from 1995 to 2003, and as the island's Delegate to the United States House of Representatives since 2003.

Criminal conviction

In February 1987, Bordallo was convicted on ten counts of corruption and was sentenced to nine years in prison and fined more than $100,000. He was accused of receiving over $100,000 worth of bribes and extortion in connection with favors he performed in office for campaign contributions. His convictions on eight counts of bribery and extortion were overturned in August, 1988, leaving charges of obstruction of justice and witness tampering. On December 13, 1989, he was sentenced to four years in prison on the remaining charges.

Suicide

After his failed appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, Bordallo faced a four-year sentence in a federal minimum-security prison beginning on February 1, 1990. Three hours before he was scheduled to be transferred to a prison in Boron, California on January 31, 1990, the former Governor committed suicide in Hagåtña by wrapping himself in a Guam flag, chaining himself to statue of Chief Kepuha (also Quipuha, Guam's first native chief to convert to Roman Catholicism) located along Marine Corps Drive (the island's primary thoroughfare), and shooting himself in the head with a .38 caliber pistol. He had also set up four placards around the monument, one of which said: "I regret that I only have one life to give to my island," an altered quote by Nathan Hale.

Bordallo died of massive brain damage at 4:28 P.M. at Naval Hospital, aged 62. He was buried at Pigo Cemetery in western Hagåtña.
****************

Death and funeral announcement as it appeared in the Pacific Daily News (Hagåtña, Guam) on February 7, 1990, on page 33.

News photo as it appeared in the Marianas Variety (Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands) on February 9, 1990, on page 1.


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