Senior judge Consuelo Bland Marshall of the Central District of California imposed 58 months imprisonment for one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and another 58 months for one count of wire fraud to be served concurrently by the 43-year-old Arriola.
From the maximum 63 months imprisonment in the sentencing guidelines, the court deducted five months for the jail term served by Arriola in the Philippines, and was also given credit for the time he was in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service after his extradition to Saipan in Nov. 2009.
Two months ago, Arriola pleaded guilty to conspiracy and committing wire fraud, involving $1.3 million of Rita Kaipat estate money.
After the sentencing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Schuler, who prosecuted the case, asked the court that Arriola be remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Arriola’s counsel Steven Pixley moved for his client’s continued release until a prison facility has been designated so that Arriola could be with his mother who is “not in good shape” after a “serious stroke.”
Wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet on his ankle and required to stay in a designated house 24 hours a day, Arriola was released on June 10, 2010 to his brother, Press Secretary Angel Demapan.
Schuler said relatives of Rita Kaipat “expressed anger” about Arriola’s release.
Schuler said it will take 30 to 60 days, or more, before a facility for Arriola is designated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
But the judge, considering the medical condition of Arriola’s mother, allowed his continued release subject to conditions previously set until a prison facility has been designated. The judge said Arriola is not a flight risk.
In an interview after the hearing, Schuler said Arriola has been incarcerated over a year already prior to his sentencing. Moreover, Arriola and his co-defendant, Luis Kaipat Pelisamen, who is now serving his five-year imprisonment, are jointly and severally to pay restitution in the amount of $625,775.
Arguing for a 36-month imprisonment for his client, Pixley said Arriola “lost his career. His reputation has been irreparably damaged. He has been detained for approximately one year in custody, five months of which were spent in a filthy Manila prison teaming with rats. He is indefinitely separated from his wife and child. His actions for which he accepts full responsibility, have quite literally destroyed his life.”
