A FEDERAL jury on Tuesday afternoon found Servillana Soriano guilty of one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S.
Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI allowed Soriano to remain out of custody pending her sentencing. Soriano was also ordered to abide by the previous pretrial release conditions.
The judge also referred the defendant to the U.S. Probation Office for an initial presentence report due on Sept. 24, 2021.
“Pursuant to Rule 32(f)(1), within 14 days after receipt of the presentence report, the parties must state in writing any objections, including objections to material information, sentencing guideline ranges, and policy statements contained in or omitted from the report,” the judge said.
Judge Manglona added that the final presentence investigation report is due on Oct. 29, 2021, and parties must file any sentencing memoranda and related materials one week prior to sentencing.
Soriano will be sentenced on Nov. 12, 2021 at 9 a.m.
During the jury trial that began on June 29, 2021, she was represented by attorney Mark Hanson while Assistant U.S. Attorneys Garth Backe and Albert Flores Jr. were the prosecutors.
According to the prosecution, Soriano, with three others, agreed to defraud the U.S. 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 this was part of a conspiracy involving RES International LLC, which 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.
Soriano’s 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 will be sentenced on 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.
