JOHNNY John Basiente, a 36-year-old repeat offender, will serve five years in prison for committing burglary on two occasions.
Superior Court Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo sentenced Basiente to 10 years imprisonment, but all suspended except five years.
Basiente will be eligible for parole and was given credit for time already served since Feb. 8, 2023.
In his order, Judge Govendo said the defendant will be released from the custody of the Department of Corrections on Feb. 8, 2028, at 8 a.m.
Basiente was ordered to pay a fine of $1,000 and court costs of $100.
Following his release from prison, Basiente will be placed on supervised probation for 10 years and pay a probation fee of $1,600. Any extension of probation will result in additional probation fees, the judge said.
He also ordered Basiente to pay a $2,000 restitution to QQ Car Rental, $6,760 to Jin Koo Cho, $2,055 to Huaying Zhang, and $625 to Lenard Angodage.
In addition, Basiente will perform 200 hours of community work service, and will have no direct or indirect contact with Qiwan Wu, Yongchang Wu, Jinlian Chen, Jin Koo Cho, Keon Seo, Huaying Zhang, minor child O.Z. and Lenard Angodage.
As part of his probation, Basiente was ordered to stay away from Guangzhou Restaurant, QQ Car Rental, Mama’s Store, Hanamitsu Hotel & Spa and New Shin Restaurant. All these establishments are located in Garapan.
Background
On June 1, 2023, Basiente pled guilty to burglary in Criminal Case No. 23-0033-CR and in Criminal Case No. 23-0026-CR.
He was represented by court-appointed attorney Keith Chambers, while Assistant Attorney General Heather Barcinas appeared for the government.
Judge Govendo granted the government’s motion to dismiss all remaining charges. The government also agreed not to file criminal charges in DPS Case No. 23-000557 and 23-000998, and agreed not to file a Petition to Revoke Probation in Criminal Case No. 21-0157-CR, 21-0156-CR, 21-0098-CR and Traffic Case No. 21-02222-T.
In an official statement, DPS stated that it responded to a theft incident on Jan. 30, 2023, at about 8:39 a.m. at Guang Zhou Restaurant in western Garapan.
Arriving at the scene, police learned that the suspect in the case, who was later identified through surveillance footage, was repeat offender Johnny John Basiente.
DPS said Basiente was caught inside the restaurant by the owners and that, while trying to get away, Basiente and the owners got into a struggle.
The victims sustained minor injuries while Basiente fled in a get-away vehicle identified as a white Toyota RAV-4 with license plate AGB-622, DPS added.
On Feb. 8, 2023, police investigators found Basiente at a residence in Dandan.
During a consent search at the residence, detectives identified and recovered several stolen properties that were later positively identified by victims of previously reported burglary and theft incidents, DPS stated.
It added that Basiente also confessed to multiple crimes he had committed this year alone, some of which had yet to be reported.
