Min Jo, 50, of Seoul Video in Chalan Kanoa appeared in court with attorney Joseph Horey for the sentencing yesterday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Schuler appeared on behalf of the federal government.
The federal government, which noted that the defendant accepted responsibility for his actions very early on in the matter, asked the court to sentence him to one year probation and one year supervised release.
The federal court, in its order, referred the defendant to the CNMI Division Immigration to determine his deportability.
U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Alex R. Munson said if immediate deportation does not occur and the defendant remains in the commonwealth, he must immediately report to the U.S. Probation Office for supervision.
The defendant must not also commit another federal, state or local crime, must not possess a controlled substance and refrain from excessive alcohol.
He will submit to the collection of a DNA sample at the direction of the Probation Office, comply with the conditions of supervision, and complete 100 hours of community service.
The federal government moved for the dismissal of the charges of conspiracy and copyright infringement against the defendant.
The prosecution also moved that all property seized as part of the instant offense will be forfeited to the federal government.
Munson said the defendant’s cash bond of $1,500 is exonerated — $1,400 of the amount will be released to the defendant while $100 will be used to pay for the special assessment fee.
Min Jo’s shop’s manager, Il Cho, 46, was earlier sentenced by the federal court to three-year probation.
Both defendants were arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation agents on April 14, 2008 following a raid at their video shop. Both were indicted for three counts of copyright infringement.
An FBI agent stated in an affidavit that they seized thousands of DVDs and VHS players, tapes of newly released motion pictures and boxes of blank label papers and labeling materials during a raid at the Seoul Video Store. The FBI agent stated that the defendants admitted that they purchased the DVDs from Korea, copied and duplicated them and sold or rented them out to customers.
