On April 1, 2009, the case went to trial against Marehalau only, as Calderon could not be located.
On April 24, the FSM Supreme Court found Marehalau guilty of counts 2 and 4 of the charges against him.
Count 2 is theft against the government in violation of 11 F.S.M.C. § 602, while count 4 is over-obligation of government funds in violation of 55 F.S.M. C. § 221,223.
On April 30, Marehalau was sentenced as follows:
Count 2: Sentenced to three years imprisonment suspended except for 18 months and to pay restitution of $3,000.
Count 4: Sentenced to four years imprisonment, suspended except for 30 months.
Both sentences are to run concurrently and were to be effective as of 12 noon, May 5, at the Yap state prison.
Calderon, a Filipino national, told U.S. law enforcement officials in Aug. 2006 that he had obtained and altered sample FSM passports in order to illegally smuggle more than 50 Filipino citizens into America from Dec. 2004 until early Jan. 2006 for payments up to and over $10,000 per smuggled person.
Calderon said Marehalau allowed him to take sample FSM passports from a box kept at the FSM Embassy in Washington D.C.
Calderon said he gave Marehalau $20,000 to $30,000 of the proceeds from the FSM passport fraud scheme.
Calderon pleaded guilty to human trafficking and was sentenced to a jail term in the U.S.
