By Bryan Manabat
bryan@mvariety.com
Variety News Staff
THE federal court has granted the U.S. government’s motion to dismiss the case against Jianbing Zhao without prejudice. Zhao was indicted for obstructing his deportation from the CNMI under 8 U.S.C. § 1253(a)(1)(C), which covers actions that prevent or hamper removal.
Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI issued the ruling on Dec. 22, dismissing both the indictment and the superseding indictment without prejudice. The U.S. government’s motion for a ruling on Zhao’s pretrial objections was denied as moot. The judge also vacated the status conference set for Jan. 13 and the jury trial scheduled for Feb. 3. Zhao was ordered released.
Court-appointed attorney Cong Nie will continue representing Zhao for 14 days from the Dec. 22 order, with representation ending Jan. 4. The clerk of court was directed to close the case.
Evidence concerns
Assistant U.S. Attorney Garth Backe moved to dismiss the indictment without prejudice, meaning the case could be refiled. Backe said, “After a thorough review of its evidence and the applicable law, [the U.S. government] does not believe it can prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Nie objected, arguing the prosecution failed to explain why it could not prove the case or whether it intends to reindict Zhao.
“If the [U.S.] government no longer intends to prosecute Mr. Zhao, it does not say so in its motion,” Nie said. “If it does plan to reindict, the Rule 48(a) motion could be used to avoid a court ruling on the key legal issues in the proposed jury instructions.”
Nie also warned that granting the motion would give the U.S. government an indefinite continuance, calling it a potential “pretext” to delay a decision on case-dispositive legal issues.
Backe responded that the defense “does not even attempt to offer any facts that could support a bad faith finding” and stressed that no law requires the U.S. government to announce whether it will refile. He added that “dismissal with prejudice will rarely be appropriate.”
Dispute over legal interpretation
Zhao’s jury trial was originally scheduled for Nov. 18 but was reset to Feb. 3, 2026, after the defense objected to the government’s proposed jury instructions, arguing they mischaracterized Zhao’s legal status.
Zhao contends he was “paroled” into Saipan under the CNMI visa waiver program in 2015 and was never formally admitted to the United States. His attorney argued that the statute cited by prosecutors applies only to aliens admitted under Section 1227(a).
The U.S. government conceded Zhao was never admitted but maintained the statute still applies. Backe cited a recent Eleventh Circuit decision, United States v. Doe, which held that admission is not a prerequisite for prosecution under § 1253(a)(1). He said that if Zhao’s objection is sustained, the government may be unable to proceed.
The dispute centers on whether the term “member of any of the classes described in section 1227(a)” includes inadmissible aliens like Zhao. The defense argues it does not, while the government says excluding such individuals would produce “absurd results” and undermine the statute’s purpose.
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.
