DONGLIN Xu and Qingjiang Li have been sentenced by the federal court for their involvement in a conspiracy to transport illegal aliens by boat to Guam.
Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI sentenced Xu to 12 months’ imprisonment. Xu was given one-day credit for time served. After serving his sentence Xu will be placed on one-year supervised release.
As for Li, he was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment followed by a one-year supervised release.
Judge Manglona also ordered Xu to self-surrender to the U.S. Marshals Service at the Department of Corrections on June 7 at 9 a.m. while Li was ordered to self-surrender on June 4 at 9 a.m.
The judge informed the defendants that if they fail to show up, it will be a separate crime.
Xu was represented by attorney Colin Thompson while Li was represented by attorney Vincent Seman. Brandon Dogget served as Xu’s interpreter while Mengwei “Madge” Gai was Li’s interpreter.
Xu and Li’s 12 other co-defendants have separately pled guilty to “engaging in a conspiracy [to transport, move, or attempt to transport or move] an alien within the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that the alien came to, entered, and remained in the United States in violation of law.” They have all been sentenced to time served by Senior Judge Alex R. Munson.
These defendants — Fuquan Miao, Chen Qin, Hongmei Din, Qinjiang Li, Ziyou Xu, Huipin Shanguan, Xiping Gao, Rui Wang, Yuxing Lin, Xu Lu, Xiangke Zhang and Bin Wang — were also required to each pay a $100 special assessment fee. In addition, their passports shall be given to Immigration Customs Enforcement by the U.S. Probation Office. Once they are prepared to depart the CNMI, they are to contact the U.S. Probation Office or Immigration Customs Enforcement to deliver their passports to the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport.
On Sept. 13, 2023, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations arrested the 14 Chinese nationals after they paid an undercover agent, who was posing as a boat captain, to transport them to Guam illegally.
It was Donglin Xu who told the undercover agent that he was looking for a boat captain on Saipan willing to be paid to take approximately nine people to Guam.
According to Special Agent Meilani L. Quintanilla’s complaint and affidavit filed in federal court, 11 of the 14 defendants entered the CNMI at various times and all have overstayed their legal status in the U.S.
