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By Gina Tabonares
Variety News Staff
THE separate sentencing of
three men indicted separately for illegally carrying firearms are scheduled
for tomorrow in the District Court of Guam.
First to be sentenced is Joseph J.F. Reyes, who is charged in July 2006
with felon in possession of a firearm.
Reyes, 30, was convicted in the Superior Court of Guam on five counts
of forgery, criminal mischief and assault on July 2, 1996.
He was arrested 10 years later, for possession of a .45 caliber handgun
with obliterated serial number reportedly shipped to Guam from a different
state.
Reyes entered a guilty plea on Sept. 27, 2006 and admitted to the criminal
charges.
His offense has a corresponding penalty of up to 10 years of imprisonment
and three years of supervised release.
The sentencing of Justin Ken Taisipic, 22, is at 10:30 a.m. He is charged
with Hobbs Act robbery for using and carrying a firearm during a crime
of violence.
Taisipic also admitted through a plea agreement that on June 24, 2006,
he entered the Hafa Adai Pachinko in the Northwest Plaza in Tamuning and
used a 9mm semi-automatic handgun to rob Yu Yo Pak.
Taisipic demanded money from Pak and fled the scene on foot while he was
pursued by a security guard.
During the pursuit, he threw the 9mm handgun onto a tin roof which was
recovered by police. Police also recovered $32 in cash which the defendant
took from Pak.
The maximum sentence for Hobbs Act robbery charge is 20 years of imprisonment
and a $250,000 fine, while carrying and using a firearm during a crime
of violence constitutes a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, including
a term of supervised release of not more than three years. The minimum
sentence is not less than seven years.
The sentencing of Bernardo Dait Jr., who is charged with drug use in possession
of a firearm, is also scheduled for tomorrow.
Dait, 33, entered a plea agreement on Sept. 8, 2006 and admitted that
on April 21, 2006, he was an unlawful user of a controlled substance when
he possessed four firearms, including a Beretta rifle, a 9mm caliber,
a Bushmaster rifle, and a .223 caliber.
The maximum sentence for drug use in possession of a firearm is 10 years
of incarceration, a $250,000 fine, and a supervised release of not more
than three years.
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