THIRTEEN of 55 potential jurors were selected Tuesday for the jury trial of Servillana Soriano in federal court. One of the 13 is the alternate juror.
The jurors were instructed to return to court, today, June 30, for the trial, which will resume at 8:40 a.m.
Soriano was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.
According to the court hearing minutes, Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI, outside the presence of the jury, granted attorney Mark Hanson’s motion in limine and has unsealed the trial briefs of the prosecution and defense.
A motion in limine is a motion discussed outside the presence of the jury.
Hanson, who represents Soriano, has requested the court to prohibit the U.S. government from eliciting, through any witness at trial, any statements made by Faroque Hosen.
Hanson said Hosen is an alleged co-conspirator in the case and a convicted cooperating defendant in a companion case in federal court.
The federal government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Garth Backe and Albert Flores.
In his trial brief, Backe told the court that among the evidence that will be submitted during trial were Soriano’s statements to U.S. Homeland Security Investigations agents.
Hanson, in response, said: “There is no indication from any report provided to the defense that Ms. Soriano herself ever made any of the statements contained in that April 17 document.”
According to the second superseding indictment, Soriano, with three others, agreed to defraud the United States by deceitful and dishonest means, for the purpose of impeding, impairing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful government functions of a government agency, namely, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or USCIS, in the fair and objective evaluation of CW-1 non-immigrant visa applications.
The prosecution said it was part of the conspiracy that RES International, LLC would, in exchange for money, submit a petition for CW-1 classification that would falsely and fraudulently represent that an employer-employee relationship would exist between RES and the beneficiaries under the employment terms set forth in the petition.
The other co-conspirators — Aminul Islam, Halim Khan, and Faroque Hosen — were also charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S.
Islam and Hosen have both pleaded guilty to the charge.
On Feb. 16, 2021, Judge Manglona sentenced Islam to one week of imprisonment, one year of supervised release and 25 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay a $100 assessment fee.
Hosen’s sentencing has been scheduled for July 23, 2021 at 1:30 p.m.
As for Halim Khan, who is represented by attorney Bruce Berline, his jury trial will start on Aug. 29, 2021.
