U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Alex R. Munson granted the request of the federal government and the defendant in his one-page order last week.
Assistant United States Attorney Eric S. O’Malley and defendant Manuel Aldan Sablan with his court-appointed counsel George L. Hasselback agreed to request the court to continue the defendant’s sentencing and revocation hearing at 9 a.m. on June 25.
O’Malley filed the request because Hasselback will be turning over the responsibility of the case to a new counsel.
O’Malley said additional time is needed to review the file.
The defendant entered a guilty plea to one count of distribution, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance in December last year.
The court accepted the plea and the plea agreement and Sablan was referred to the U.S. Probations Office for investigation and report.
The defendant’s offense carries a maximum sentence of 30 years imprisonment, a fine of up to $2,000,000, a special assessment fee of $100 and a minimum supervised release of six years.
The defendant was indicted after a small plastic bag with crystalline substance was taken from his possession on Dec. 1, 2007 during a buy-bust operation.
The crystalline substance turned out to be 91 percent pure ice, weighing 100 net milligrams.
Sablan was arrested with two other defendants on April 24, 2008. The indictment stated that the defendants conspired to distribute ice from Dec. 1 to Dec. 13, 2007.
