CHIEF Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI has granted the request of former guest-worker advocate Bonifacio “Boni” Sagana for travel and subsistence expenses so he can be flown to Saipan.
On Jan. 31, 2022, the federal court issued an arrest warrant for Sagana after a grand jury indicted him on the charge of conspiracy to unlawfully produce an identification document.
Sagana, however, had already left Saipan before he could be arrested.
According to other defendants, it was Sagana who arranged for them to fraudulently obtain a CNMI driver’s license using a counterfeited U.S. immigration visa number.
Sagana was arrested on May 16, 2022, in Wisconsin.
Through his court-appointed attorney Richard Miller, Sagana requested the court to direct the U.S. Marshals Service to arrange “for his noncustodial transportation to Saipan or furnish with the fare for such transportation to Saipan, as well as provide an amount of money for subsistence expenses to Saipan, so that he may appear in this District for arraignment and further proceedings in this matter.”
Miller added, “Mr. Sagana lives in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He is out of custody, on pretrial release. He has been found indigent and provided court-appointed counsel in this District and the Eastern District of Wisconsin. As shown by his financial affidavit, he does not have the means to pay for his travel to Saipan.”
Miller said the prosecution, represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Garth Backe, does not oppose the motion.
On Friday, Judge Manglona issued an order granting Sagana’s request for travel and subsistence expense.
The court scheduled a status conference for June 29 at 9 a.m.
