THREE Chinese nationals — Shuyuan Wang, Ying Liu, and Xiaohui Zhu — were sentenced by the federal court on Tuesday to time served for conspiracy to transport illegal aliens charges.
The three defendants were previously indicted alongside several others in October 2022 in the District Court for the NMI, and had been arrested earlier in Guam.
In Criminal Case 22-00014, Shuyuan Wang and Ying Liu were each charged with one count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens.
In a separate case, Criminal Case 22-00015, Xiaohui Zhu was also charged with the same offense.
Authorities believe the three do not have legal permission to remain in the CNMI.
At the sentencing hearing on July 1, Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona sentenced each defendant to time served, one year of supervised release, and 50 hours of community service, which will be waived once they depart the CNMI.
Attorney David Banes, who represented Liu, told the court that his client’s passport had been surrendered to the U.S. government.
Zhu, represented by attorney Joey McDoulett, submitted his client’s passport to U.S. Probation Officer Greg Arriola. The court ordered the U.S. Probation Office to transfer Zhu’s passport to Enforcement and Removal Operations.
For his part, attorney Richard Miller informed the court that Wang’s passport is currently in the custody of Homeland Security Investigations.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Albert Flores Jr. appeared on behalf of the federal government.
Following the hearing, the three defendants were remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Their co-defendants in the same case have already been convicted and sentenced.
According to the indictment, on or about July 29, 2022, the defendants pooled their money to purchase a boat for $32,000 on the island of Saipan. The boat, approximately 26 feet in length with a white fiberglass hull and motorized propeller, bearing CNMI registration number CM 0057 CP, was used by the eight defendants and one additional Chinese citizen (who also lacked lawful immigration status) to travel from the CNMI to Guam on or about July 31, 2022.
The indictment stated that a boat was used to avoid immigration processes anticipated with commercial air travel. Authorities later located the vessel at the Hagåtña Boat Basin in Guam after it came ashore with all nine Chinese citizens.
