By Bryan Manabat
bryan@mvariety.com
Variety News Staff
Â
A FEDERAL judge on Friday sentenced former Department of Corrections Officer Aesha Debrum Sablan to five months in prison for engaging in sexual contact with a person in official detention.
Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands handed down the sentence, which includes one year of supervised release, the first five months of which will be served under home confinement.
Sablan was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment fee immediately following sentencing.
Upon release, she must complete 50 hours of community service unless gainfully employed. She is also required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.
The court will recommend that Sablan serve her sentence in the CNMI. She has been ordered to self-surrender to the CNMI Department of Corrections on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025, at 8 a.m.
Sablan was represented by attorney Richard Miller, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Garth Backe appeared for the federal government.
According to federal court documents, Sablan knowingly engaged in sexual contact with a detainee between an unknown date in 2022 and Feb. 7, 2024. The incident occurred at a facility under federal contract, where Sablan had custodial and supervisory authority over the victim. The charge falls under 18 U.S.C. § 2244(a)(4).
Sablan pleaded guilty to the charge in June.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.