The CNMI driver’s license of Yongde Li.
BECAUSE Yongde Li cooperated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the federal court should sentence him to no more than 12 months, his defense attorney, Janet King, said.
For his part, Assistant U.S. Attorney Albert Flores Jr. recommended a prison sentence of one year and two months for Li, who had admitted to his involvement in a case involving the production of fraudulent CNMI driver’s licenses.
On July 11, 2023, Li pled guilty to counts 1 and 2 of the information charging him with conspiracy to unlawfully produce an identification document, and conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
In a 10-page sentencing memorandum, King said, “The defendant pleads guilty because he is guilty.”
She added, “Though these crimes are not crimes of violence, it cannot be said that these are not serious crimes. The number of driver’s licenses unlawfully produced and the loss to the First Hawaiian Bank of $30,639 seriously impacted the community and economy. The defendant, contrary to his impression that he was ‘helping’ people, harmed everyone, including his wife and children, who now have to deal with losing a husband and father to prison and inevitable deportation,” King said.
After accepting responsibility for his unlawful actions, Li fully cooperated with the FBI from the beginning of the investigation, his lawyer said.
“He never asked for counsel in any of his interviews, gave consent to the FBI to search the contents of his phone, and helped make recorded telephone calls and meetings with suspected Bureau of Motor Vehicles employees. At the same time, the FBI did surveillance, and he provided information about other non-BMV sources of unlawfully produced driver’s licenses in Saipan. He willingly cooperated in describing how he provided lunches to Juana Cabrera Leon Guerrero and other BMV staff in return for helping him get the CNMI driver’s licenses. As for the bank fraud, he cooperated with the FBI’s investigation of Ming Jin Jin and described in detail how Ming Jin Jin financed a loan with the First Hawaiian Bank to purchase a car and provided forged employment documents so his friend could qualify for bank financing,” King.
Li is former BMV Director Juana Leon Guerrero’s co-defendant.
According to the indictment filed against them, Leon Guerrero knowingly and intentionally conspired and agreed with Yongde Li, also known as “Ivan”; fellow employees of the BMV; residents of the CNMI without lawful immigration status; and others, to commit an offense against the United States: specifically, to knowingly and without lawful authority produce an identification document — namely, a CNMI driver’s license.
On or about Jan. 1, 2020 through on or about Dec. 20, 2022, on 60 occasions, Leon Guerrero knowingly permitted “Ivan,” a citizen of the People’s Republic of China without lawful immigration status in the United States but a resident of the CNMI, to bring other citizens of the PRC and of other nationalities without lawful immigration status in the United States, to the BMV, where those foreign citizens were subsequently issued fraudulent CNMI driver’s licenses.
Both defendants will be sentenced on Dec. 15 at 9 a.m.
The prosecution has recommended a prison sentence of 60 months or five years and a $15,000 fine for Leon Guerrero. Her attorney, Robert T. Torres, requested a three-year sentence.
