The four were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the CNMI Department of Public Safety on board two inflatable boats off Rota’s west harbor en route to Guam on Jan. 30, 2010.
At about 3 p.m. yesterday, visiting Chief Judge William H. Alsup of the Northern District of California called on all parties after he received a note from the jury regarding a verdict after five days of jury trial.
The 12 jurors found Shixu Huang, Lihua Yi, Zhanshan Zhang and Pingping Zhang guilty beyond reasonable doubt of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government.
“The defendants, all citizens of China, attempted to illegally enter Guam from the CNMI using small inflatable boats to cross the 30 miles of open ocean separating the two jurisdictions,” said U.S. Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the NMI Leonardo M. Rapadas in a statement.
Under federal law, Rapadas said the defendants face a potential jail term of not more than five years.
“This conviction should send a clear message that such attempts are not just incredibly dangerous but may also result in federal convictions and jail time,” Rapadas said.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kirk Schuler and Eric O’Malley prosecuted the case.
Sentencing was scheduled for Sept. 14.
A fifth defendant, Jingfan Zhang, pleaded guilty to a lesser sentence, and became a cooperating defendant who testified during the trial.
The defendants were represented by court-appointed attorneys Michael Dotts, Bruce Berline, Anthony Long, and Mark Hanson.
These lawyers earlier argued their clients were seeking asylum on Guam and that the prosecution “jumped into a wrong conclusion.”
The defendants are currently out on bail.
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