Houston scheduled a status conference today for a Rule 20 transfer of case as requested by defendant Wing Yee Tse, also known as Wing Yen Tse.
The defendant, who was arrested on Saipan, waived the detention hearing as earlier moved by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Benedetto, who is prosecuting the case.
Tse wished to answer to the charges in the District Court for the NMI, court-appointed defense attorney David Banes told the court.
According to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 20 (a) Consent to Transfer, prosecution may be transferred from the district where the indictment or information is pending, or from which a warrant on a complaint has been issued, to the district where the defendant is arrested, held, or present if:
(1) the defendant states in writing a wish to plead guilty or nolo contendere and to waive trial in the district where the indictment, information, or complaint is pending, consents in writing to the court’s disposing of the case in the transferee district, and files the statement in the transferee district.
(2) the United States attorneys in both districts approve the transfer in writing.
According to the indictment, between on or about Sept. 26 to Sept. 28, 2010, Tse used two credit cards under her name and bought $1,000 worth of jewelry and other merchandise and another $1,000 worth of signature bag on Guam.
On same dates, the indictment stated Tse issued a “false material claim and statement” that she was not convicted in Hong Kong for possession of dangerous drugs, when she obtained a CBP Form I-736 Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Information.
Records from the Superior Court showed that Wing Yee Tse was convicted of misuse of credit card.
The Superior Court sentenced Wing Yee Tse to a three-year jail term, all suspended except for six months with credit for time she served at the Department of Corrections.
At the time of her arrest on Saipan by federal agents, Tse had been serving her 10-year-probation that started after her release on May 1, 2011. She was arrested on Nov. 2, 2010.
Records showed Wing Yee Tse, together with a male individual identified only as “principal,” purchased several high-priced items from DFS Galleria on Oct. 30, 2010.
Police said Wing Yee Tse received the fake credit cards in Shenzhen, China.
