It was not explained why the motion was filed, but a court document indicated that Inos represented defendant Fu Zhu Lin’s proposed third party custodian, Ignacio Villanueva, in a prior criminal case when the judge was still a practicing attorney.
Lin, 38, an employee of the Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino, is being held on charges of trafficking and illegal possession of “ice” and resisting arrest, which the defendant has denied.
After the hearing for his motion for bail modification, Lin was remanded to the custody of the Department of Corrections.
He is being held on a $30,000 cash bail.
Assistant Public Defender Richard Miller, who is representing Lin, has asked the court to modify his client’s bail to $3,000 cash, or 10 percent of the imposed bail, and to be released to a third party custodian.
Miller said under commonwealth law, all persons arrested for criminal offenses other than first-degree murder are “entitled as a matter of right to be released on bail.”
Miller further argued that under the commonwealth rules of criminal procedure, an accused must be released pending trial “under the least restrictive conditions necessary to reasonably assure the appearance of the person as required.”
Assistant Attorney General Russel Lorfing, the prosecutor, disagreed, saying Lin “has already proven that he is a flight risk and that he is a danger to the CNMI community and no conditions of bail, short of a substantial cash bail, will ensure the defendant’s compliance with the terms and conditions of his release.”
CNMI Drug Enforcement Task Force and other members of the Criminal Investigation Bureau conducted a buy-bust operation on Lin on Oct. 29, 2010.
Through a cooperating source, authorities bought $200 worth of “ice from Lin who tried to escape on foot after the drug deal.
Police also recovered from Lin’s room the marked money he used in the drug deal.
Police arrested Lin the following day after he escaped the buy-bust operation and returned to his work station at the Tinian Dynasty’s kitchen.
