SVETLANA M. Maala has admitted to forging a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services notice form and pled guilty to one count of fraud and misuse of visa charge on Friday.
At the change of plea hearing, Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI found Maala competent to enter a knowing, voluntary and intelligent plea.
The judge accepted the plea and adjudged Maala guilty of the offense.
The judge also ordered the plea agreement to be unsealed and the jury trial vacated.
She allowed Maala to remain out of custody pending sentencing, but ordered her to abide by all previously imposed terms and conditions.
The court scheduled the sentencing for Aug. 13, at 1:30 p.m.
Colin Thompson was the court-appointed counsel of Maala while Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric O’Malley appeared for the federal government.
According to the plea agreement, Maala, a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines, on or about June 7, 2018, knowingly counterfeited and altered a form I-797 by sending another individual’s form I-797 to a second individual in the Philippines and requested that it be photoshopped to show that it belonged to her.
“Defendant did so, knowing that the form I-797 was not hers and intending to use it as proof of her eligibility to stay and work in the U.S.,” the plea agreement stated.
According to the U.S. government, the charge carries a maximum penalty of not more than a 10-year term of imprisonment; a fine not to exceed $250,000; not more than a three-year term of supervised release; and a $100 specialty penal assessment.
But the prosecution agrees to recommend a sentence at the low end of whatever guideline range is determined by the court.
