Joseph Villagomez may also be charged with trafficking marijuana, Prosecutor Peter Prestley told the Variety.
During a bail hearing late yesterday afternoon before Associate Judge Perry Inos, Villagomez said he earns $13,000 a year and that he has no other source of income.
Inos then ordered the Public Defender’s Office to represent Villagomez.
His preliminary hearing was set for April 6 and his arraignment will be held on the 11th.
Villagomez’s bail was set for $5,000 and he will be released upon posting at least 10 percent of it.
Prestley said the seized marijuana plants were found in a fenced area in Dandan.
“It’s not uncommon to find people growing marijuana on Saipan,” said Prestley who first came to work on Saipan as law clerk three years ago before moving to the Criminal Division of the Office of the Attorney General.
