CHIEF Prosecutor Chester Hinds of the Office of the Attorney General’s Criminal Division is opposed to the conditional release of six inmates who have applied for parole.
The CNMI Parole Board held parole and revocation hearings at the Department of Corrections starting Wednesday.
In an official letter to Lucinda Selepeo, the Board of Parole acting chair, Hinds asked the board to deny the parole applications of Kui Zhang, Calistro Acosta Crisostomo, Bradley Defang, Titomir Bhuiyan, Derik Reyes, and Randy Igisomar.
Hinds said, “Given the damage that drugs have done to this island and to our community, inmate Zhang should serve his full sentence until his release from custody on August 2, 2025.”
Zhang pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a controlled substance on Sept. 15, 2022, and was sentenced to serve five years in prison, all suspended except for three years.
“The Office of the Attorney General opposes any form of early release to include conditional release pending deportation. Inmate Zhang is volunteering for deportation; however, Zhang’s willingness to be deported back to China does not serve justice, nor does his voluntary departure guarantee his deportation. It is in our position, and in the best interest of the CNMI to oppose early release even if Zhang is conditioned upon deportation to China,” Hinds said.
Not suitable
As for Calistro Acosta Crisostomo, Hinds said: “We believe the inmate…is not suitable for early release under parole. Aside from the cases that the inmate has been charged with, the inmate’s extensive criminal history also indicates that he has been charged with numerous other crimes to include theft charges, theft of vehicle, assault & battery, assault with a dangerous weapon, resisting arrest, obstructing justice, burglary, conspiracy, criminal contempt, criminal mischief, illegal possession of controlled substances, trafficking, and curfew violations of other prior cases. In fact, the inmate failed to report to his probation officers during his probationary period, and also has a record of bench warrants for his failure to appear at his scheduled court hearings in his most recent court cases prior to his incarceration. Thus, the inmate’s criminal history, his criminal conduct, along with the problems associated with his substance abuse poses as a huge public concern. Inmate Crisostomo has an extensive criminal history and a history of violating conditions of his probation terms. Therefore, Inmate Crisostomo should serve his full sentence until his scheduled release date on Jan. 5, 2026, as he is clearly a significant threat to the safety and welfare of the Commonwealth.”
Crisostomo is serving a five-year sentence for burglary and theft.
Hinds is also against the early release of Bradley Defang, who pleaded guilty to one count of robbery on Jan. 17, 2021. He was sentenced to serve 10 years imprisonment all suspended except five years.
“Granting Defang early release does not apply equal justice,” Hinds said. “Granting early release would undermine the authority of the justice system and the trust of the community. It would suggest that violent offenders such as Defang can commit such serious crimes and still receive lenient treatment. This would certainly be unfair to the law-abiding citizens who expect justice to be served.”
Convicted kidnapper
Regarding Titomir K. Bhuiyan, Hinds said the inmate and his accomplice “unlawfully confined the victim in his own car for a substantial period of time after battering him at one location, then…driving to multiple locations and continuously beating the victim until such time that the victim was able to signal bystanders in that area, and eventually was able to flee from his assailants after they stopped by an area to get beer from the back of the truck. The victim sustained injuries on his face, including swelling, blood on his lips, and fracture to his right orbit. His right eye was too swollen to open, and the victim kept falling in and out of consciousness.”
Bhuiyan pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping on April 8, 2015. The kidnapping incident occurred on Nov. 29-30, 2014. He was sentenced to 19 years imprisonment with three years suspended.
Pattern of behavior
In his opposition to Derik Jonathan Camacho Reyes’s parole application, Hinds said the government is concerned over the pattern of behavior exhibited by the inmate, and most especially the inmate’s prior criminal history.
Reyes “is an admitted drug user who was recently caught with methamphetamine while serving his current prison sentence,” Hinds added.
“Inmate Reyes is now seeking early release from incarceration in Criminal Case No. 19-0048 and 21-0015, in order to begin serving his 27-month concurrent prison sentence in federal court for assaulting a prison guard and possessing methamphetamine while under [Department of Corrections] custody,” Hinds said.
Reyes is serving a five-year sentence for illegal possession of a controlled substance: methamphetamine.
Heinous crime
As for Randy Anthony Igisomar, who is serving a 22-year sentence for murder in the first degree, Hinds said the inmate is not suitable for parole.
“Igisomar has served 11 years and has 11 years remaining on this particularly heinous crime, the most serious offense we face as a society. Having served only 11 years is grossly inadequate considering his debt can never be repaid. This type of deviant behavior demands significant incarceration to prevent the possibility of other acts of violence by this particular inmate, as well as to serve as a deterrent to others in the community that this type of behavior and crimes such as murder ultimately will not be tolerated,” Hinds said.
Today, Thursday, Aug. 31, the parole board will hold a pardon/clemency hearing for Jodan Taitingfong, and a revocation hearing for Edward I. Blas.
Taitingfong was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for robbery and aggravated assault and battery in 2017.
As for Blas, he was found guilty of assault while on parole. Before he was paroled, Blas served a 24-year prison sentence for murder in the first degree committed during the perpetration of burglary and/or robbery.
He became eligible for parole after serving one-third of his sentence.
Blas, whose parole application was granted in July 2022, was arrested and charged with assaulting his girlfriend on Nov. 1, 2022.
In 2009, Blas, who was 16 at the time of the incident, was charged as an adult with two other teenagers, Eric Rabauliman and Randy Igisomar.
According to the prosecution, the three beat to death a security guard, Efren Ballesteros, 45, with a PVC pipe, an iron rebar and a 2×2 wood on Nov. 17, 2008, at Marianas High School.
Police said the three defendants planned to steal laptops from MHS.
