JOSEPH Diaz Sablan, a 29-year-old man convicted for sexual abuse of a minor, has been declared a fugitive from justice.
Assistant Attorney General Aaron Romano on Friday said Sablan disobeyed court’s order when he failed to turn himself in to the Division of Corrections.
Superior Court Associate Judge David Wiseman on Friday ordered the Department of Public Safety to locate Sablan and detain him until his sentencing date on June 20.
Romano said the Attorney General’s Office had already informed the Commonwealth Ports Authority about Sablan’s fugitive status.
“Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is urged to contact DPS immediately. Do not attempt to confront Sablan directly as he has two prior convictions for assault and battery,” Romano said in a press statement.
Sablan was originally charged with rape, oral copulation and sexual abuse of a minor.
Last May 10, the jury acquitted him of rape, but found him guilty of oral copulation.
Wiseman also found Sablan guilty of sexual abuse of a child.
Wiseman ordered the Probation Office to prepare a pre-sentence report.
The government then moved the court to remand Sablan to jail pending his June 20 sentencing, but the court allowed him to go home.
AGO filed a written motion to have the defendant held in custody pending the sentencing. The Public Defender’s Office, counsel for the defendant, objected.
Wiseman then ordered Sablan to turn himself in to Corrections on June 5. But Sablan did not show up on that day.
On June 6, the Public Defender’s Office informed the court that it had attempted to contact with its client, but Sablan could not be reached.
