FORMER Department of Corrections Officer Aesha Debrum Sablan on Tuesday pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual contact with a detainee.
District Court for NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona set the sentencing for Oct. 10, 2025, at 9 a.m.
Sablan appeared before the court out of custody during an arraignment at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday and waived her right to an indictment.
Also present were the defendant’s counsel, Richard Miller; the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Garth Backe; and U.S. Probation Officer Gregory Arriola.
Backe informed the court that the victim was made aware of the matter, while Miller said his client had entered a plea of guilty pursuant to the terms of a plea agreement.
The judge then addressed the defendant and reviewed the plea agreement with her, also apprising Sablan of the obligations and conditions she must follow upon conviction.
Backe then stated the elements of the offense, and the factual basis that the U.S. government was prepared to prove had the matter gone to trial.
The court found that Sablan was fully competent to enter a knowing and voluntary plea and accepted her plea of guilty.
After the court — without objection from either party — ordered the plea agreement unsealed, the defendant was released under certain terms and conditions.
Sablan has been charged with engaging in sexual contact with a person in official detention “between sometime in 2022 — the exact date being unknown — and on or about Feb. 7, 2024.”
According to the prosecution, the defendant “did knowingly engage in sexual contact with another person who was at the time in official detention and under the defendant’s custodial, supervisory and disciplinary authority in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2244(a)(4).”
No further information about the defendant or the incident was available as of press time Wednesday afternoon.
