STEVEN Tomokane has pled not guilty to the indictment charging him with one count of transportation of illegal aliens.
At an arraignment in federal court on Thursday, July 18, Tomokane, through his court-appointed attorney Robert T. Torres, also waived the reading of the charges and his rights.
The federal government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Garth Backe.
Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI accepted the defendant’s plea of not guilty and set a jury trial for Sept. 17 at 10 a.m.
Judge Manglona ordered the case unsealed and Tomokane to remain released.
Tomokane was arrested on June 28, 2024, after the federal court issued an arrest warrant for him.
On July 1, 2024, Tomokane was in court, out of custody, for an initial appearance hearing. The court granted the U.S. government’s motion to quash the arrest warrant and for the case to remain sealed.
Tomokane was allowed to remain released on his own personal recognizance with pretrial conditions that included supervision by the U.S. Pretrial and Probation Office. He was also ordered not to use alcohol, and not to use or unlawfully possess a narcotic drug or other controlled substances.
Judge Manglona likewise addressed the release conditions violation reported by U.S. Probation Officer Juanette David-Atalig.
David-Atalig informed the court that Tomokane admitted he drank a half can of beer on July 4, 2024, and executed an admission of drug/alcohol use form.
Judge Manglona, however, accepted the U.S. Probation Office’s recommendation of no action.
Background
According to the complaint filed by Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Meilani Quintanilla, probable cause exists to believe that Tomokane “violated Title 8 USC §1324 (a)(l)(A)(ii) by transporting, moving, or attempting to transport or move, an alien within the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that the alien came to, entered, and remained in the United States in violation of the law.”
On June 22, 2023, she said, HSI Saipan received information from the Guam Customs and Quarantine Agency that multiple witnesses from U.S. Fish and Wildlife observed 21 individuals jumping off of two white vessels into the waters near Ritidian Point, Guam.
Furthermore, she said, USFW personnel observed two individuals in each of the vessels followed by the two white vessels immediately departing the area waters and traveling north away from Guam.
Quintanilla said USFW subsequently encountered the 21 individuals on the shores of Guam and held them while waiting for the responding personnel of the Guam Customs and Quarantine Agency.
HSI Guam personnel also responded and conducted a Department of Homeland Security database check that identified all 21 individuals as Chinese citizens who initially entered the U.S. on Saipan and had no authorized immigration status that allowed them to legally enter the territory of Guam. None of the 21 Chinese citizens had border crossing records indicating legal entry into Guam, Quintanilla said.
She added, “On the same date, officers with the Rota Department of Public Safety-Boating Safety Division observed two white vessels approaching the island from a southwest direction. Rota authorities encountered the two white vessels and requested for the operators to make their way to the West Marina in Rota.”
Later, DPS identified Steven Tomokane through a CNMI identification card as one of two occupants of Vessel #2, a white 1996 McKee Craft private vessel bearing CNMI registration, CM-4852-PU.
Tomokane and three other vessel occupants admitted to operating the two white vessels in and around the territorial waters of Guam, Quintanilla said.
HSI Guam, for its part, conducted a non-custodial interview with Aijuan Zheng, one of the 21 Chinese citizens encountered at Ritidian Point, Guam.
Zheng was identified through DHS database records as illegally present in the U.S. with no authorization to enter the territory of Guam.
Zheng admitted to paying $4,500 cash to board a vessel on Saipan destined for Guam with the intention to live and work on Guam.
Zheng also admitted to boarding Vessel #2 on Saipan, which transported herself and other Chinese citizens directly from Saipan to the waters of Guam on June 22, 2023.
“Zheng identified an electronic photograph of Tomokane as the boat operator of Vessel #2,” Quintanilla said.
As of press time Sunday evening, no other information regarding the other vessel operators was available.
