United States District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Alex R. Munson also ordered Antonio Camacho Chong to pay restitution to the Council for Developmental Disabilities in the amount of $26,970.37 and a special assessment fee of $100 immediately after sentencing.
The defendant appeared for the sentencing yesterday with his court-appointed counsel David Banes.
Assistant United States Attorney Eric O’Malley who represented the government moved for a sentence of 12 months imprisonment, to be served by home confinement and three years of supervised release. The defense argued for a lesser sentence.
Munson ordered the defendant to submit to six months home confinement under the direction of the U.S. Probation Office and pay for the cost of electronic monitoring during his confinement.
The defendant must not commit another federal, local or state crime and not illegally possess or use a controlled substance. He must also submit to the collection of a DNA sample, shall be prohibited from possessing a firearm or other dangerous weapon and shall not incur new credit card charges or open additional lines of credit without the approval of the probation officer.
The defendant must also provide the probation officer access to any requested financial information. He must also complete 200 hours of community service. The federal court suspended the mandatory drug testing for the defendant based on the court’s determination that the defendant poses a low risk of future substance abuse.
In April this year, the defendant entered into a plea agreement with the government and pled guilty to the charges against him.
Chong was employed by the Council on Developmental Disabilities or Council in 2004 and was its executive director from Jan. 2005 to Oct. 2008.
The U.S. government calculated the restitution amount based on several transactions. According to the indictment, Chong traveled to Hawaii to undergo training in his capacity as executive director on April 9, 2008. The indictment stated that he used $2,000 intended for supplies for his personal expenses. He was also accused of keeping $7,958.24 in council funds for travel to Utah and Missouri for training on April 25, 2008, but he did not go and kept the money for personal expenses.
On June 8, 2008, Chong traveled to Washington D.C. for training but he spent the $2,135 in council funds for personal expenses including the payment for his car loan.
He again traveled to Washington D.C. on July 23, for training but he used the travel authorization funds of $5,357.13 for personal expenses.
The government said Chong also spent for his personal expenses $3,116 he received for training in Colorado, $2,768 for training in Utah in 2007, and $6,876 for a training in Orlando, Florida in 2007, trainings which he did not attend.
He also received $1,006 in council funds in 2005 for a training in Hawaii which he did not attend but spent the money on personal expenses.
