Vincent Songsong
VINCENT Masga Songsong will serve 120 months or 10 years in prison for possession of child pornography.
Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI on Friday sentenced Songsong, who was also given credit for time served. The U.S. Probation Office said Songsong had been detained for 156 days as of Aug. 16, 2024.
According to the judge, Songsong’s time served will be given from the date of his initial appearance, and that the ultimate calculation lies with the Bureau of Prisons.
After serving his sentence, Songsong will be placed on 60 months of supervised release, the judge added.
She said she will make a recommendation to the Bureau of Prisons regarding the defendant’s placement.
Songsong was ordered to pay a special assessment fee of $100 immediately after sentencing, but the court found him indigent and did not impose a fine or the $5,000 special assessment fee.
Songsong’s court-appointed attorney, Joe McDoulett, will remain his counsel until the appeal period expires, which the court stated will commence after the restitution hearing.
Judge Manglona also entered a final order of forfeiture against Songsong and scheduled a restitution hearing for Sept. 27, at 9 a.m.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Albert Flores, the prosecutor, moved to dismiss the pending Petition for Revocation of Supervised Release in CR 14-18. The court granted the motion and dismissed the petition.
Judge Manglona informed the parties that the period of supervised release in CR 14-18 has concluded, and the case is now closed.
Songsong has a previous possession of child pornography conviction in case CR 14-18.
On Dec. 3, 2015, Songsong, a resident of Rota, was convicted of possession of child pornography and was sentenced by the federal court to serve 78 months or six years and six months.
He was also ordered to pay $5,000 restitution to one of the victims and to register as a sex offender.
In that case, Songsong pled guilty to possessing “a laptop computer that contained 226 videos involving the use of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.”
For Songsong’s latest case, Flores informed the court that all identified victims were contacted, and those that wished to participate had submitted victim impact statements, with eight of them having specific restitution demands.
Flores described the U.S. government’s efforts to notify all identified victims, and stated that the court has all the materials needed to proceed with the restitution hearing.
Judge Manglona informed the parties of her inclination to “bifurcate the restitution hearing to allow additional victims more time to submit victim impact statements.”
She set the deadline of Sept. 13, 2024, for the U.S. Probation Office to file an updated pre-sentencing report if there are any new victim impact statements and/or claims for restitution.
For his latest case, Songsong pled guilty to the charge of possession of child pornography on April 5, 2024.
According to the plea agreement:
“On or about June 22, 2023, in the District of the Northern Mariana Islands, defendant knowingly possessed matter containing a visual depiction that had been shipped and transported using any means and facility of interstate and foreign commerce, and defendant knew that the production of said visual depiction involved the use of a minor — specifically, a prepubescent minor or a minor who had not attained twelve years of age — engaging in sexually explicit conduct, and that said visual depiction was of this conduct.
“Specifically, on or about June 22, 2023, defendant possessed a Samsung Galaxy A13 cellular phone, serial number R58T5Z5K3H, on defendant’s person. Defendant acquired the device in February of 2023, and used the device to access pornographic websites on the World Wide Web via the internet. During the approximate four-month period of owning the device, defendant routinely accessed pornographic websites containing material with prepubescent minors who had not yet attained twelve years of age, engaging in sexually explicit conduct (child pornography). Defendant knowingly downloaded the child pornography onto his device for his personal use.
“By June 22, 2023, defendant’s device contained at least 1,500 images of child pornography, and 150 videos of child pornography, which defendant personally downloaded for his use. The images and videos containing child pornography downloaded by defendant through the World Wide Web and internet were stored on databases located outside of the CNMI. Each image downloaded by defendant required transporting the images through interstate commerce.”
