IN opposition to her request for compassionate release, Assistant U.S. Attorney Garth Backe informed the federal court that methamphetamine was found inside the jail cell of Vickilyn Manglona Teregeyo on March 27, 2022.
“The court has already considered the reasons cited by the defendant as grounds for compassionate release when it sentenced defendant to three months’ imprisonment followed by three months’ home confinement at a revocation hearing on March 25, 2022,” he added.
Since that revocation hearing, Backe said, there had been no substantial changes to the defendant’s circumstances, besides the fact that she is closer to her pregnancy due date.
“Indeed, defendant is actually now in a worse position to request compassionate release because: (a) the laboratory analysis of defendant’s urine sample taken at her revocation hearing on March 25, 2022, confirmed she had methamphetamine in her system, and (b) methamphetamine was found inside her jail cell on March 27, 2022,” Backe said.
He added that the U.S. government will present evidence at the hearing on April 27.
Backe said the court should consider what is best for the health and safety of the defendant’s unborn child, and not what is most convenient for the defendant.
“And one only needs to look at defendant’s history to see where her own priorities lie,” he said.
In her Guam criminal case, the defendant’s then-attorney filed a motion for temporary release due to her impending labor and delivery, Backe said.
The magistrate judge granted the motion over the U.S. government’s objection, he added.
When the defendant later gave birth, both she and the baby tested positive for methamphetamine, Backe said.
“This clearly demonstrates that defendant — under almost the exact same circumstances — has no regard for the safety of her unborn child, and that she cannot (and should not) be trusted to comply with any court-imposed conditions of release,” he said.
Teregeyo, through his court-appointed attorney Richard Miller, requested the District Court for the NMI for a sentence modification and compassionate release because she is due to give birth in a matter of weeks.
Miller said his client is eight months pregnant.
Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona granted the request for the motion to shorten time and scheduled the sentence modification hearing for April 27, 2022 at 8:30 a.m.
Judge Manglona recently revoked the supervised release of Teregeyo after the defendant admitted that she used methamphetamine.
Judge Manglona sentenced Teregeyo to serve a term of three months imprisonment, followed by three months of home confinement/detention with electronic location monitoring as special condition of supervised release, and followed by 27 months of supervised release.
Teregeyo was convicted on Guam of the offense of drug user in possession of firearm and ammunition and was allowed by the federal court system to serve her probation in the CNMI.
She was sentenced by Guam District Court Chief Judge Frances M. Tydingco-Gatewood on May 24, 2019 to time served, 12 months and 18 days, with a three-year term of supervised release.
Teregeyo’s supervised release was previously set to expire on May 23, 2022.
Vickilyn Manglona Teregeyo
