U.S. District Court for the NMI Designated Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood will preside over Tyron Barley Fitial’s change of plea hearing scheduled for April 8 at 10 a.m.
Fitial will plead guilty to count 3 of the superseding indictment charging him with enticement of a minor. All the other charges against him will be dropped.
Enticement of a minor carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, but with his plea agreement, Fitial now faces the statutory mandatory minimum term of 10 years, a $250,000 fine and a $100 special assessment fee, which must be paid at the time of the sentencing.
Any sentence imposed on him will include a supervised release of at least five years.
Fitial and his court-appointed counsel, Joseph James Norita Camacho, signed the plea agreement on March 24.
On March 25, U.S. Assistant Attorney James J. Benedetto, the lead prosecutor in the case, and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Belinta Alcantara, signed the plea agreement.
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrested Fitial last year on the charge that he enticed a girl who was detained at the Kagman Juvenile Detention and Correctional Facility to meet with him and engage in a sexual act.
Evidence showed Fitial telephoned the victim from the facility.
“During one or more of the defendant’s telephone calls to R.S., the defendant made sexually suggestive comments to R.S. in an attempt to get R.S. to meet with him to engage in a sexual act. The defendant did, in fact, meet with R.S. at a later time and engage in sexual acts,” the plea document stated.
At that time, Fitial was 25 years old and the victim was 12.
The victim and two other girls who, the prosecution said, was also enticed by Fitial to engage in sexual acts with him will be restituted.
Fitial was asked to declare in court all of his assets.
He agreed to submit to a polygraph examination and other investigation related to official misconduct, civil rights violations, among other offenses at the Kagman Juvenile Detention Facility.
“The defendant understands that this plea agreement depends on the fullness and truthfulness of his cooperation…. If he should fail to fulfill completely each and every one of his obligations under this plea agreement, or make material omissions or intentional misstatements or engage in criminal conduct after the entry of this plea agreement and before sentencing, the government will be free from its obligations under the plea agreement,” the plea documents stated.
