De Zhu Sun, also known as Zhou Wenjun, appeared before visiting Senior Judge Robert J. Bryan in federal court yesterday morning.
Through an interpreter, Sun, who appeared in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, was told by Bryan of the charge against him, as well as his constitutional rights.
The court found Sun to be indigent, and ordered that an attorney be appointed for him.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Schuler, the prosecutor, moved for the detention of Sun, which the court granted.
A detention hearing is scheduled today for Sun while a preliminary examination was scheduled for July 29.
In an interview with the Variety, Schuler lauded the great collaboration among local and federal authorities that resulted in the arrest of Sun.
In his affidavit, FBI Special Agent Haejun Park said he arrested Sun at the airport while the defendant was attempting to leave Saipan with a Chinese passport issued and designed for the use of another person.
At about 1 a.m., an Asian male passenger, later identified as Sun, approached the Transportation and Security Administration screening checkpoint in order to proceed to the boarding area to catch his flight.
Park said a TSA officer became suspicious because the picture in the passport that Sun presented did not appear to match Sun’s appearance.
Sun presented a Chinese passport that belonged to Zhou Wenjun.
Sun presented two boarding passes bearing Zhou Wenjun’s name for flights from Saipan to Seoul, then from Seoul to Pudong, a district of Shanghai, China.
After becoming suspicious, Park said, the TSA officer sought help from the supervisory transportation officer who also became suspicious, noting that Sun’s appearance did not match with the picture on the Chinese passport he presented.
When asked for additional identification, Sun said “no.”
Through an interpreter, Sun insisted that he is “Zhou Wenjun” as stated in the passport, and also confirmed the date of his birth.
Authorities learned that Sun was “going home because of the bad economy” and that he did not have a job here.
Sun said he has been on island for the past eight years.
“A review of the male passenger’s passport indicated several entry and exit stamps, but none from the [CNMI],” Park said.
Three behavior detection officers were called in, and they all agreed that the passport photograph did not match Sun’s appearance, Park said.
The Commonwealth Ports Authority summoned Special Agent Park who then conducted an investigation and later arrested Sun.
“I reviewed the passport and also determined that the photograph and age stated on the passport did not match the appearance of the male passenger,” Park said, referring to Sun.
After providing a copy of Sun’s picture to several Department of Public Safety personnel, Park said an officer recognized the picture, and confirmed it was Sun, and provided the defendant’s date of birth.
